Eolomea (1972)

Director:

Herrmann Zschoche

Writers:

Angel Vagenshtain (book)
Willi Brückner (literary adaptation)

Release Date:

21 September 1972 (East Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Eight space cargo-ships disappear without a trace within three days. And the orbit station "Margot" has suddenly fallen silent...

Cast

Cox Habbema	...	Prof. Maria Scholl
Ivan Andonov	...	Daniel Lagny (as Iwan Andonov)
Rolf Hoppe	...	Prof. Oli Tal
Vsevolod Sanayev	...	Kun, the pilot (as Wsewolod Sanajew)
Petar Slabakov	...	Pierre Brodsky (as Peter Slabakow)
Wolfgang Greese	...	Chairman
Holger Mahlich	...	Navigator
Benjamin Besson	...	Capt. Sima Kun
Evelyn Opoczynski	...	Scholl's co-worker
Justus Fritzsche	...	Griva
Heidemarie Schneider	...	Sima Kun's adjutant
Arndt-Michael Schade	...	1st Rescue technician
Harald Wandel	...	2nd Rescue technician
Jürgen Scharfenberg	...	3rd Rescue technician
Ivan Ivanov	...	Receptionist (as Iwan Iwanow)
Herbert Dirmoser	...	1st Councillor
Kurt Höhne	...	2nd Councillor
Karl-Heinz Danowski	...	Young scientist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Manfred Krug	...	Daniel Lagny (voice) (uncredited)
Hans-Dieter Leinhos	...	Pierre Brodsky (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Richter-Reinick	...	Kun (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Herrmann Zschoche

Writing credits
Angel Vagenshtain		(book) (as Angel Wagenstein)
Willi Brückner		(literary adaptation)

Original Music by
Günther Fischer

Cinematography by
Günter Jaeuthe		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Helga Gentz

Production Design by
Erich Krüllke
Werner Pieske

Costume Design by
Barbara Müller

Makeup Department
Christa Grewald	....	makeup artist
Lothar Stäglich	....	makeup artist
Rosemarie Stäglich	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Dorothea Hildebrandt	....	production manager
Gerrit List	....	unit production manager
Horst Schmidt	....	unit production manager
Hans-Uwe Wardeck	....	unit production manager
Ursula Dombrowski	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eleonore Dressel	....	assistant director

Art Department
Peter Gericke	....	set maker
Jochen Hamann	....	set constructor
Adolf Kilian	....	props: exterieur
Günter Kriewitz	....	set constructor
Hans-Joachim Schwarz	....	set maker
Harald Welzel	....	set constructor

Sound Department
Georg Gutschmidt	....	sound
Günther Witt	....	sound

Special Effects by
Günter Malinowski	....	special effects
Kurt Marks	....	special effects
Boris Travkin	....	special effects (as Boris Trawkin)
Siegfried Wunsch	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Horst Bochow	....	gaffer
Detlev Hertelt	....	assistant cameraman
Alexander Kühn	....	still photographer
Wilfried Riemer	....	electronic advisor
Kurt Schulze	....	assistant cameraman

Production Companies

• VEB DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
• Künstlerische Arbeitsgruppe ''Berlin''
• Kinostudiya ''Mosfilm'' (in association with) (as Mosfilm-Studio, Moskau)
• Studiya za igralni filmi ''Boyana'' (in association with) (as Studio für Spielfilme, Sofia)

Distributors

• VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb (1972) (East Germany) (theatrical)
• First Run Features (FRF) (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Icestorm Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• Icestorm Entertainment (2005) (2009) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

Germany:78 min (TV) | East Germany:82 min

Country:

East Germany | Soviet Union | Bulgaria

Language:

German

Color:

Color (ORWO-Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Germany:6

Filming Locations:

DEFA Studio, Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

VEB DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme

Trivia:

The trick sequences with spaceship models were filmed upside down, so there would be no visible wires above in the finished film.

Sci-fi made in the East, with interesting results

Science fiction made in East Europe usually has different perspectives of life as Western science fiction. This is one example.

Not about technology or the future of our society, not even about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (that it claims to be about), but about humans, their character traits, and their quest for the final frontier.

Accordingly the visual effects by Kurt Marks and Boris Trawkin, though awarded the Grand Prix of the UNIATEC, suffer in comparison with other fx-heavy movies made about the same time, like Academy Award-winning The Poseidon Adventure or Douglas Trumbull-directed Silent Running.

Still it creates a future that could happen any time, showing technology only in outer-space, and the stations in space and on asteroids look pretty much like good old MIR, the Russian space-station.

And yet it is rewarding for those who love the human desire for knowledge...

This was the third science fiction movie of the legendary DEFA studio and the first one to be based on an original concept (by Bulgarian Angel Vagenstein), starring Dutch Cox Habbema, Ivan Andonov (a director in his native Bulgaria) and Russian actor Vsevolod Sanayev (who died January in 1996), and German actors Rolf Hoppe and Wolfgang Greese.