Although an international audience is present once again, foreign films are prohibited from taking part in the competition. However, they are allowed to be screened in the information programme.
Many of the films - including the winner of the main prize, "Martins Tagebuch" by Heiner Carow (GDR) - are censored prior to their screening, as despondency and pessimism are frowned upon by the government. The political influence on the artistic programme and the organisation of the festival is received critically by the press; The Deutsche Volkszeitung talks of a "disgrace for the whole of Germany" (Düsseldorf, 17/11/1956).
The editors of Neues Deutschland and Die Welt are even harsher: They award "German dwarfs" for the poorest films, the official jury - including Karl Gass, Hilmar Hoffmann and Hans Rodenberg - also subscribe to the critical evaluation of the quality of the films, demanding structural changes for the coming year. These include the lifting of the differentiation between German and foreign films in the competition and the appointment of a selection committee, enforcing higher criteria. It comes as no surprise that the prize of the Ministry of Culture fails to be awarded due to insufficient quality of the submissions.
Prizes
MARTINS TAGEBUCH (GDR, Heiner Carow)
EIN KIND UND SEINE WELT (GDR, Jiři Jahn and Robert Eisenmeyer)
EINE UNGLAUBLICHE GESCHICHTE (Animated Film, GDR, Kurt Weiler) and ARTISTEN DES HAFENS (FRG, Wolf Hart) both received honourable mentions.