<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type> Although East Germany may have seemed like an island during the Cold War, films produced by DEFA were never just a monologue but in constant dialogue, if not competition, with both the capitalist West and socialist East. This volume reshapes DEFA cinema studies by exploring international networks, identifying lines of influence beyond national boundaries and recognizing genre qualities that surpass the temporal and spatial confines of the state.