Reni Mertens

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Reni Mertens (born April 8, 1918 in Zurich as Renata Bertozzi ; † September 25, 2000 there ) was a Swiss documentary filmmaker.

Life

After completing a commercial diploma and high school diploma in Zurich, Reni Mertens studied Romance studies in Geneva and Zurich. During her student days, she founded a debating club that included emigrants such as Georg Lukács , Ignazio Silone , Cesare Zavattini and Bertolt Brecht . It was in this club that she met her future work partner Walter Marti . She received her doctorate with a thesis on Gabriele d'Annunzio , which appeared in 1954, as Dr. phil. I.

Reni Mertens has taught, worked for Swiss radio and television, subtitled films and translated works by Bertolt Brecht and Max Frisch into Italian.

In 1953 Reni Mertens founded Teleproduction together with Walter Marti . Over four decades, Mertens and Marti subsequently produced twenty documentaries and in 1962 co-founded the Association of Swiss Film Designers (since 1998 Association of Swiss Film Directors and Scriptwriters ). Ursula or the unworthy life , a portrait of a deaf-blind girl, which arose from the collaboration with the rhythm teacher Mimi Scheiblauer , caused a stir . The Tele Production also produced some early films of Alain Tanner ( Les apprentis , 1964), Rolf Lyssy ( Eugen probably means born 1968), Jean-Jacques Lagrange and Erich Lang year ( Do it yourself , 1981). The production company was only dissolved in 1999 - shortly before the death of Mertens and Marti.

In 1997 Reni Mertens was appointed President of the first jury for the new Swiss Film Prize .

Reni Mertens was married to the linguist and journalist Hans-Walter Mertens.

She found her final resting place in the Sihlfeld cemetery .

Reni Mertens' estate can be found in the documentation center of the Swiss Film Archive (also known as Cinémathèque suisse in Switzerland) in Zurich.

Filmography

  • 1953: Nativity Play I
  • 1956: rhythm
  • 1958: Jour de Pêche
  • 1958: Parfums de Paris
  • 1961: In the shadow of prosperity
  • 1962: Nativity Scene II
  • 1962: Our little ones
  • 1964: Dental prophylaxis (commissioned film)
  • 1966: Ursula or the unworthy life
  • 1973: The self-destruction of Walter Matthias Diggelmann (about the writer Walter Matthias Diggelmann )
  • 1974: Hélder Câmara - Prayer for the Left (via Archbishop Hélder Câmara )
  • 1977: À propos des apprentis
  • 1980: Héritage (about the composer and painter Peter Mieg )
  • 1985: Flamenco vivo - The School of Flamenco
  • 1988: Pour écrire un mot
  • 1992: Requiem

Awards

Publications

  • L'Antirealismo di Gabriele d'Annunzio . Dissertation. 1954.

literature

  • Elisabeth Aeberli. Half a century of film history: the Swiss film pioneers Reni Mertens and Walter Marti . New ways, vol. 95, issue 6, 2001. pp. 168-171. doi : 10.5169 / seals-144300
  • Franz Ulrich. Walter Marti 1923–1999 . Cinébulletin 2/2000.
  • Christoph Huebner. Between love and geometry: conversation with Reni Mertens and Walter Marti. In: Ins Offene - Documentary Work 2. Ed. Gabriele Voss. Berlin 2000. ISBN 3-930916-36-3 .
  • Reni Mertens / Walter Marti, cinéastes: L'unité des contraires. Pro Helvetia dossier. Ed. Irène Lambelet. Lausanne, Aux Editions d'en bas, 1989. ISBN 978-2829001093 .
  • Reni Mertens, Walter Marti. Pro Helvetia dossier. Edited by Richard Dindo , Arthur Zimmermann. Bern, Zytglogge Verlag, 1983. ISBN 3-7296-0182-2 .
  • Walter Marti & Reni Mertens - 30 ans de cinéma en Suisse. Ed. Erika and Moritz de Hadeln . Dossier of the 14th Nyon Documentary Film Festival . Nyon 1982.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Ulrich: On the death of Reni Mertens. September 27, 2000.
  2. ^ Elisabeth Aeberli: Half a century of film history: The Swiss film pioneers Reni Mertens and Walter Marti. New ways, vol. 95, issue 6, 2001. p. 168 f.
  3. ^ Elisabeth Aeberli: Half a century of film history: The Swiss film pioneers Reni Mertens and Walter Marti. New ways, vol. 95, issue 6, 2001. p. 171.
  4. ^ Franz Ulrich: On the death of Reni Mertens. September 27, 2000.
  5. ↑ Ursula or the unworthy life - production data according to Swiss Films
  6. ↑ Requiem - production data according to Swiss Films
  7. ^ Christian Dimitriu: Marti, Walter. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  8. ↑ How Much Culture for Grace? Marc Rich's commitment in Zurich. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 3, 2001.
  9. ^ Elisabeth Aeberli. Half a century of film history: the Swiss film pioneers Reni Mertens and Walter Marti. New ways, vol. 95, issue 6, 2001. p. 168.
personal data
SURNAME Mertens, Reni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bertozzi, Renata (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss documentary filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 2000
Place of death Zurich