Representation of the Image of Fritz Bauer and his Contribution to the "Overcoming of the Past" in Contemporary German Cinema

The subject of the study is the problem of "overcoming the past" in German culture, conceptualized through the means of cinema, exemplified by the activities of the German Attorney General of Jewish descent, Fritz Bauer. The relevance of addressing this topic is determined by the need to clarify the potential of artistic expressiveness in working through the legacy of the past; revealing the communicative potential of cinematic works in intergenerational dialogue and the ability of films to construct an image of the past, interpreting it through artistic means of expression. The aim of the work is to determine the role of contemporary films dedicated to the personality and professional activities of F. Bauer in representing and reflecting on the problem of "overcoming the past" in German culture. The tasks of the research included: 1) tracing the specifics of the phenomenon of the past and its representation in cultural memory; 2) identifying and describing the main areas of F. Bauer's professional activities; 3) clarifying the significance of Bauer's work for German culture, including in the context of the problem of working through the past; 4) determining the possibilities and limits of the creative initiatives of filmmakers (using films about Fritz Bauer as an example) in the work of "overcoming the past" in contemporary German culture. The methodology of the research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating data from cultural history, art criticism, and cultural anthropology. The study is a comprehensive cultural analysis that combines axiological and hermeneutic approaches, as well as biographical methods. It employs methods from specific disciplines, namely film studies (the systematic film analysis of Helmut Korte and narrative analysis). The novelty of the research lies in defining the role of the German prosecutor Fritz Bauer and his professional activities, as depicted through the medium of cinema, in the contemporary German society's understanding of its own past, related to the era and "legacy" of National Socialism; in clarifying the possibilities and limits of the language of artistic films in constructing collective knowledge about the past and shaping national identity; and in revealing the potential of cinema as a carrier of cultural memory, allowing for the removal of temporal limitations on the "lifespan" of an individual’s or generation's memories. The results obtained substantiate the significance and specificity of cinematic art as a means of reflection within the problematic field of "overcoming the past" in unified Germany and demonstrate the role of individuals in the formation of national self-consciousness.