Gerhard Klein (director)
Gerhard Klein (born May 1, 1920 in Berlin ; † May 21, 1970 in East Berlin ) was a German film director and screenwriter .
Life
Even during the Second World War , the son of a film maker was self-taught in the field of film. Because of his work in the resistance organization of the KPD , he was arrested twice. After the end of the war he was active in the main youth committee of the KPD and in the youth welfare office of the Berlin municipal authorities.
From 1946 he started at DEFA , initially as a screenwriter for short films , and soon as an assistant director in the DEFA studio for newsreels and documentaries. In 1952, Klein then moved to the DEFA studio for feature films.
After a study trip to the USSR , Klein was instrumental in setting up the DEFA children's film studio. With alarm in the circus , he shaped the pattern of films that report from divided Berlin. Berlin - corner of Schönhauser ... revealed for the first time a youngster problem in the eastern part of the city. When Klein and his screenwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase wanted to build on it eight years later with Berlin around the corner , production was stopped.
In another genre, the fairy tale film, Klein also succeeded with The Story of Poor Hassan (1958), a film that - parabolic - in a combination of documentary-poetic style with the didactic character is positive from the long series of failures of DEFA fairy tale films -Production stands out.
After the Gleiwitz case , in which Klein reconstructed the attack on the Gleiwitz transmitter , he devoted himself to humorous portrayals of everyday life in the GDR in his other films. From 1963 to 1967 Klein was a member of the People's Chamber .
Klein fell ill in the spring of 1970 while filming the film Zernik's corpse matter and died a little later.
His written estate is in the archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
His grave is in the forest cemetery in Kleinmachnow .
Filmography
- 1950: For a united, happy fatherland (short film)
- 1951: Aladin (director, screenplay)
- 1954: Alarm in the circus (director)
- 1956: A Berlin Romance (Director)
- 1957: Berlin - corner of Schönhauser ... (director)
- 1958: The Story of Poor Hassan (Director)
- 1958: Der Schinderhannes (actor)
- 1959: Strange Hunt (Director)
- 1960: A Summer's Day Doesn't Make Love (Director)
- 1961: The Gleiwitz Fall (director)
- 1963: Sunday Driver (director)
- 1965: Berlin around the corner (director)
- 1965: Don't you think I'm crying (Actor)
- 1967: Tales of That Night (Episode 4 - Director and Screenplay)
- 1972: Zernik corpse matter (screenplay and direction of the canceled first film from 1970)
Award
Klein received the GDR III National Prize for the film Alarm im Zirkus . Art and literature class.
literature
- Bernd-Rainer Barth : Klein, Gerhard . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
- Hans-Michael Bock (ed.): Lexicon of directors and cameramen from A – Z , Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, Reinbek near Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3 499 60651 8
Web links
- Gerhard Klein in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Gerhard Klein at filmportal.de
- Biography on defa-stiftung.de
- Gerhard Klein Archive in the Archive of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
Individual evidence
- ^ Gerhard Klein Archive Inventory overview on the website of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Klein, Gerhard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German film director and screenwriter, MdV (Kulturbund) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1920 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 21, 1970 |
| Place of death | East Berlin |