Trace of Stones

Trace of Stones German Spur der Steine is a 1966 East German film by Frank Beyer. It was based on the eponymous novel by Erik Neutsch and starred Manfred Krug in the main role. After its release, the film was shown only for a few days, before being shelved due to conflicts with the Socialist Unity Party, the ruling communist party in the German Democratic Republic. Only afteryears was the film shown again, in November 1989.

The film version of Trace of Stones was based on the novel of the same name by writer Erik Neutsch. The novel was celebrated by the Socialist Unity Party SED of East Germany, and production of the film was expected to be free of the normal interference normally subjected to DEFA by the SED. Since the novel was 900 pages, some major alterations would need to be made to the story in order to make a film of reasonable length.Initial screenings of the working print were attacked by highranking officials of the SED, much to the surprise of director Frank Beyer. They took issue with the portrayal of The Party in the film. While socialism is celebrated by the film, the partys role in it was viewed as neutral. The SED wanted their portrayal in the film to be one of a proactive agent of socialism. The SED, in an effort to create the illusion of studio autonomy, gave the film over to DEFAs internal approval process. It was approved, and the SED reluctantly allowed for distribution of the film. ........

Source: Wikipedia