Deutsche Film AG (German Film Corporation)  DEFA for short, was a state-owned, vertically integrated film company in the GDR based in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The development of television in the GDR opened up another important field of work for DEFA. DEFA made around 700 feature films, 750 animated films and 2,250 documentaries and short films. Around 8000 films were dubbed. The VEB Gerätewerk Friedrichshagen, the DEFA-Zentralstelle für Filmtechnik, the VEB Kinotechnik, the DEFA-Studio für Trickfilme and, from 1953, the VEB DEFA-Kopierwerke in Berlin-Johannisthal belonged to DEFA, at least temporarily. From 1952 to 1968, the DEFA studios for newsreels and documentaries in Berlin and for popular science films in Babelsberg were responsible for documentary productions. In 1969, the studios merged to form the DEFA Studio for Short Films; in 1975, they were renamed the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films.

The DEFA film heritage has been preserved and maintained by the DEFA Foundation established by the German government since 1998.

Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been accessible and licensable on the archive platform Progress Film. (Source: Wikipedia)