A filmmaker called Jason Springarn-Koff has a short documentary on the end of the Palast der Republik posted on the Frontline "Rough Cuts" page. Good film. Except for a hemmed and superficial one-sentence summary of what might have been wrong with the East German government ("Some say the social and cultural events [at the Palast] were largely propaganda to build support for the Communist regime ..."), and a slight mistranslation of the German above, well -- spot on, actually. The best one-line argument against tearing down the Palast comes near the end: "Why should we tear down a financeable palace of culture to make way for an unfinanceable plan for a luxury castle?" Erm, because German politicians seem to adore unfinanceable visions of the future?
