Final answer:
The assertion that the late 1960s and early 1970s were the first time since the 1920s that German filmmaking revived artistically is false. The postwar period, including the 1950s and 1960s, saw the emergence of New German Cinema, a movement that fostered a significant artistic rebirth in the German film industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
German filmmaking experienced an artistic revival that actually began during the Weimar Republic in the 1920s. The foundation built by the influential German Expressionist films, such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis, paved the way for later advancements. However, the assertion that the late 1960s and early 1970s were the first time since the 1920s that the German film industry revived artistically is false. Although the Nazi period and World War II led to an oppressive environment for artistic expression, postwar Germany, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, saw significant cultural and artistic developments, including in film.
The claim overlooks the period known as the New German Cinema, which emerged in the late 1960s as a significant film movement rebelling against the conventional style, promoting a new artistic freedom that echoed the earlier expressionist phase. Directors like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and Wim Wenders were instrumental in this revival, creating films that not only rediscovered expressionist roots but also critiqued contemporary German society and its historical past.