To mark Short Film Day on 21 December, the shortest day of the year, ARD is bringing together short films of various genres and genres in its media library, including the film "Upload DDR" by Merlin Rainer from Kerstin Drechsel's painting and graphics class.
JilliTEKK is 19, lives near Magdeburg and loves HardTekk, a fast and rough version of hardcore music that is particularly popular in eastern Germany. JilliTEKK produces his own tracks and uploads them to Soundcloud for like-minded people. Many in the scene identify with the East and the GDR past. But is there a memory of a country that you never got to know? Or are there only funny little pictures left of the GDR?
Elaborately hand-drawn, the AnimaDok film "Upload DDR" conveys a young East German attitude to life. It was first shown in October 2024 at the Leipzig Light Festival, which commemorates the events of autumn 1989. Merlin Rainer received the 2024/25 Study Award from the HGB Friends' Association and Sparkasse Leipzig for his work.
Upload DDR
Contributors: JilliTEKK, Junyu Guo, Vegasmom (music), Merlin Rainer (animation, script, direction)