Freies Land

Endless refugee treks are passing through the destroyed Germany in search for a new home. Meanwhile, emaciated men and women are standing in the ancestral portrait gallery of a country estate, and receive documents that certify their claim on a piece of the newly divided land. The previous owner, a wealthy landlord, has fled to West-Germany. One of the new resettlers is Mrs. Jeruscheit, whose husband has been reported missing during the war. During the long trail one of the children died and was buried along the way. Now she seems the have found a new home, where she can settle down with her other children. Slowly her life becomes some meaning again. All the resettlers support each other and work hard to cultivate their new land - and one day the missing Mr. Jeruscheit returns to his family.

`Freies Land' [Free Country/Land] -being the only DEFA film until the mid-1950s that dealt with the hardships of East-Germany's rural life - was only the second film of the newly founded DEFA studio. This film, which is rarely shown today, is heavily influenced by the Italian Neorealism of that time. Most people in this film weren't professional actors but farmers.