UFA was established in 1917 when the German government consolidated most of the nation’s leading studios. Its purpose was to promote German culture and, in the years following World War I, to enhance Germany’s international image.

At first, UFA produced mostly historical and costume dramas, including Die Augen der Mumie Ma (1918; The Eyes of the Mummy) and Carmen (1918), both directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Pola Negri.

The company soon acquired several theatres throughout Germany and inaugurated Berlin’s lavish Film Palast am Zoo with the premiere of Lubitsch’s Madame Dubarry (1919; also released as Passion), an international hit that did much to open the door for German films in countries where they had been banned since the war.

Ufa’s films now are typically used for German TV, producing what they believe the audience wants to see, feature films about German history as UFA started to cater to people’s interest in recent history.