Representation and Mediation in Edgar Reitz's Heimat

Reitz's Heimat contributes to at least three ongoing debates of the early 1980s: 1) filmmaking in the Federal Republic of Germany, the tradition of the Heimatfilm, and the possibility of alternatives to the mainstream. Hollywood-style film; 2) contemporary German history, the question of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, and problems of portrayal of Nazi atrocities; 3) the notion of "Heimat" - what it is and what it ought to be. Reitz's position in each of these debates is not without contradictions, but in each case, by foregrounding and problematizing processes of representation and mediation, Heimat challenges the conservative positions.