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The Sound of Friendship
Warm Wavelengths in a Cold, Cold War

a film by
Anandita Bajpai

ABOUT

The Sound of Friendship is a documentary film which tells the story of an international  broadcasting station from the German Democratic Republic (GDR)–Radio Berlin International (RBI) and its Indian listening publics. Aired from the Funkhaus at Nalepastrasse in East Berlin from 1967 to 1990, the station's Hindi programme catered to thousands of listeners in rural and semi-urban India. The film recounts the perspectives of East German/Indian presenters, behind microphones, and listeners behind the radio sets. It takes viewers from locales in Berlin to Madhepura, Bihar where we trace the trajectory of one of RBI’s listeners’ clubs from the 1980s called the ‘Lenin Club’.

How did cross-border friendships develop between listeners in India and journalists in East Germany? How are these connections remembered today, more than 30 years after the station's closure? The film not only brings together the (often) lost pasts of the radio station and its presenters’ biographies, but is also a channel of communication between listeners and radio voices that have never met in person. Shot in India in 2019 and Germany in 2020 and 2021 (in the midst of challenges posed by COVID-19), the documentary revives the mood of the times when radio frequencies weren’t just used for acoustic competition across the Cold War 'Iron Curtain' divide, but also to forge a warmth across two continents. 

TSoF Poster1.jpg

Title Track

 Trailer

Trailer_ Warm Wavelengths
वीडियो चलाए

Events

  • At the Norient Festival in Bern
    At the Norient Festival in Bern
    शुक्र, 13 जन॰
    Bern
    13 जन॰ 2023, 7:00 pm
    Bern, Schwanengasse 9, 3011 Bern, Switzerland
    13 जन॰ 2023, 7:00 pm
    Bern, Schwanengasse 9, 3011 Bern, Switzerland
    Warm Wavelengths made it as an official selection to the 12th Norient Festival in Bern, Switzerland. The screening, which was the film's European premier, took place at Kino Rex in Bern to a full-house on 14.01.2023 and was followed by a Q&A with the director and Theresa Bayer (Radio SRF 2 Kultur)
    शेयर करें
  • Warm Wavelengths in New Delhi
    Warm Wavelengths in New Delhi
    सोम, 28 मार्च
    New Delhi
    28 मार्च 2022, 5:00 pm
    New Delhi, Lodhi Road Near Airforce Bal Bharati School, Lodhi Rd, Institutional Area, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, Delhi 110003, India
    28 मार्च 2022, 5:00 pm
    New Delhi, Lodhi Road Near Airforce Bal Bharati School, Lodhi Rd, Institutional Area, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, Delhi 110003, India
    Screenings at India Habitat Centre (organized by ICAS: MP, New Delhi) and the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, followed by lively discussions, on 28.03.2022 and 26.04.2022
    शेयर करें
  • Private Screening at GDR's historic Funkhaus
    Private Screening at GDR's historic Funkhaus
    मंगल, 19 अक्तू॰
    Berlin
    19 अक्तू॰ 2021, 6:00 pm
    Berlin, Nalepastraße 18, 12459 Berlin, Germany
    19 अक्तू॰ 2021, 6:00 pm
    Berlin, Nalepastraße 18, 12459 Berlin, Germany
    Warm Wavelengths had its first private screening at the historic Funkhaus, Nalepastrasse, Berlin. The building, where all GDR radio stations including RBI were based, provided the perfect atmosphere for a first viewing attended by over 120 guests including several former moderators of RBI.
    शेयर करें

Details

Runtime: 63 minutes

Premiere: November, 2022

Countries of Filming: Germany, India

Language(s): German and Hindi

with English Subtitles

09_edited.jpg
WW_Stills_3.tif
In Madhepura, Bihar, with Arvind Srivastava, March, 2019

Director's Vision

As an academic, I have been fascinated by cinema as a medium. I have often used films as sources for teaching in the classroom. My research on radio listening in Cold War India and its links to the German Democratic Republic made me realise that these stories deserve more than published articles.

One of the interlocutors from the film had recounted to me "The Cold War was cold only in its name. It had a heat to it. We were all heated up hot warriors! Each one picked their side of the camp. I chose the side where there was a warmth of relationships" (A.Srivastava).

Warm Wavelengths is an attempt to celebrate the trajectories of people, who usually only make it to short and rather invisible 'thank you' footnotes in books. As a female scholar from India, who has been based in Germany for quite some years, it was both stimulating and challenging to film in largely male spaces of socialization in present day Bihar, India. I do hope that the film takes audiences through the "warmth" of the Cold War, which I experienced throughout the shooting.

Anandita Bajpai

Get in touch with the Director for screening related queries:

AnanditaBajpai@gmail.com

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