Edith Kiel

Edith Kiel (born June 30, 1904 in Berlin ; † September 12, 1993 in Belgium ) was a German-born film director , screenwriter , film editor and film producer who mainly worked in Belgium .

Live and act

Born in Berlin, Edith Kiel initially worked for UFA , where she supervised film dialogues and was briefly seen in 1930 with the tiny role of a prostitute in the classic film The Blue Angel . In the German capital, she met the Flemish filmmaker Jan Vanderheyden (1890–1961), whom she then followed to his Belgian homeland and who also became her partner. With her first screenplay for a Flemish film, Vanderheyden's production De witte , Kiel suddenly asserted itself in 1934. By 1941, the Belgian by choice, who also edited the films for which she provided scripts, had become a key author in Flemish film. These strips, which soon established themselves as “folk art”, were very popular with the Belgian audience, but often met with a negative response from domestic film reviews.

In 1941 Kiel made her directorial debut. During the German occupation of Belgium (until 1945), she initially stopped filming. Since Vanderheyden was appointed by the German occupying power to head the Guild of Flemish-Belgian Filmmakers ("Vlaamse Filmgilde"), at the end of the war in 1945 the couple felt compelled to flee Belgium for Germany.

Kiel worked in other professions in Berlin. When Vanderheyden returned to his homeland, he was immediately arrested and charged with collaborating with the enemy. Kiel stayed in Germany for a while and did not return to Belgium until 1951. In the following year Edith Kiel resumed her work as a director, while Vanderheyden's past from 1940 to 1945 made it impossible to continue working in Belgian film. Until 1961 she directed a wealth of Flemish films, often with comedic and folk content, which, however, were rarely shown outside of Belgium. In 1954 she was even able to set up her own production facility east of Antwerp . With the death of Vanderheyden (1961), Edith Kiel withdrew from the film industry.

Filmography

as a screenwriter, unless otherwise stated :

• 1930: The Blue Angel (only film role)
• 1934: De Witte
• 1935: Uilenspiegel leeft nog
• 1935: Alleen voor U
• 1936: De wonderdokter
• 1937: Havenmuziek (also editing)
• 1938: Drie nimble kerels (also editing)
• 1939: Met the helmet born (also cut)
• 1939: Een engel van een man (also cut)
• 1939: Janssens tegen Peeters (also editing)
• 1940: Wit is troef (also cut)
• 1940: Janssens tegen Peeters (also editing)
• 1941: Veel geluk, Monika
• 1942: Antoon, de flierefluiter

as co-screenwriter and co-director :

• 1941: Een aardig geval
• 1952: De moedige bruidegom (also editing)
• 1952: Uit hetzelfde nest
• 1953: Sinjorenbloed
• 1953: Schipperskwartier (also editing)
• 1954: De spotvogel (also cut)
• 1954: De Hemel op aarde (also editing)
• 1955: Min of meer (also cut)
• 1955: De bruid zonder at (also editing)
• 1956: Boevenprinses (also editing)
• 1956: Mijn man doet dat niet (also cut)
• 1957: Rendez-vous in het paradijs (also cut)
• 1958: Het meisje en de Madonna (also editing)
• 1959: Een zonde ward (also editing)
• 1960: Hoe zotter hoe liever (also editing)
• 1960: De duivel te slim (also cut)
• 1961: De stille genieter (also editing)

literature

• Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 585.

Web links

• Edith Kiel in the Internet Movie Database (English)