Petra Tschörtner

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Petra Tschörtner (2009)

Petra Tschörtner (* 6. May 1958 in Potsdam-Babelsberg ; † 25. July 2012 in Berlin ) was a German documentary - director .

Life

Petra Tschörtner, the daughter of Heinz Dieter Tschörtner , worked in the pioneer film studio in Babelsberg as a child. After graduating from high school in 1976, she worked at VEB Deutsche Schallplatten , followed by an internship in the DEFA studio for feature films, where she also met Angelika Andrees . With her she made her first documentary Im Heim (1978), which was originally used as a supporting film for Roland Gräfs P.S. was intended. However, due to the stories told by the children who were beaten by their parents or who watched them drink, it was not approved by state organs and was only shown in 1990 at the Short Film Festival in Oberhausen .

In 1980 their daughter Lilly Marie Tschörtner was born.

In her diploma film Behind the Windows (1983) she interviewed three young couples from a new building block in Potsdam and thus documented the disillusioned view of young married life. One critic said: "The filmmaker's open-minded position towards her interlocutors repeatedly results in surprising insights into the self -image of the average GDR mentality ." The film received one of the main prizes in Oberhausen in 1983.

Even in her early years, the delicate-looking Tschörtner surprised people with her choice of topics and her own way of documenting. In her films she repeatedly showed completely normal life, the everyday life of completely normal people. She often occupied herself with the protagonists and their lives weeks in advance, in intimate conversations, even before the camera was turned on.

At the end of the 1980s, along with Helke Misselwitz and Thomas Heise, she was one of the great hopes of East German documentary film.

In May and June 1990, she documented life in her neighborhood in times of change in Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg . The film is now also available on DVD . In 1993 a journey into the past followed with marble, stone and iron , to her former fellow students at the Babelsberg film school and the twists and turns of her life.

In 1991, 1995/96 and 2010/11 she returned to the University of Film and Television "Konrad Wolf" for teaching positions, among other things as a visiting professor for documentary film.

In her last years she worked mainly as an assistant director for television games and series and wrote her own script ideas . She worked regularly with Peter Kahane . She lived in Berlin until her death and succumbed to colon cancer in July 2012 after a long battle .

gallery

Bodies

In addition to her own film work, she has also been active on various film committees and festival juries:

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Petra Tschörtner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Tschörtner, Petra
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German documentary film director
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Babelsberg
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2012
Place of death Berlin