Richard Ritterbusch

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Richard Ritterbusch (born June 1, 1930 in Leipzig ; † November 29, 2016 in Potsdam ) was a German director , screenwriter , dramaturge , editor and the last chief dramaturge of the DEFA studios for documentary films .

family

Richard Ritterbusch was the only son of Paul Ritterbusch , one of the most prominent National Socialist science officials.

Life and activity

Born in Leipzig, Ritterbusch spent his childhood in Kiel due to his father's work as a university professor . At that time he attended the Admiral-Graf-Spee Naval School . Thanks to his father's good contacts, Ritterbusch lived on the Friederikenhof estate of the Counts of Platen in Schleswig-Holstein when they were sent to the Kinderland . After his father moved with his family to Pretzsch (Elbe) for professional reasons , he spent the last days of the war as a reporter in the Volkssturm . After the war, Ritterbusch graduated from high school in 1951 at Melanchthon-Gymnasium in Lutherstadt Wittenberg . During this time, Ritterbusch came into contact with the KPD for the first time , joined the then loose Antifa youth and in 1946 joined the newly founded FDJ .

In 1952, Ritterbusch began his studies at the philosophical faculty of the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. He studied philosophy under the renowned German-Jewish philosopher Ernst Bloch . In 1956 Ritterbusch made his diploma under the same name . From 1956 to 1961 Ritterbusch was a senior research assistant with a teaching position at the Institute for Philosophy at the Academy for Political Science and Law in Potsdam-Babelsberg. As a Bloch student and a critic of the SED leadership, Ritterbusch was excluded from academic life in the GDR and from the SED in 1961 .

In order to prove himself as a staunch communist, Ritterbusch seized the opportunity and worked for the Urania Society from 1961 to 1966 .

In 1966, Ritterbusch began working as a dramaturgy assistant in the DEFA studio for documentary films . In 1967, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution , his first documentary, Energie / Filmmagazin, appeared on the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution , which Ritterbusch directed himself. He then joined Karl Gass' group and worked from then on as a dramaturge. From 1970 to 1972 he held the post of deputy director for perspective, public relations and international work at the studio. Afterwards he was head of the contact working group in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 1978/79 and from 1983 to 1987 Ritterbusch was chairman of the selection committee of the Leipzig Documentary Film Festival . In 1987 he resigned from this post for political reasons. From 1988 Ritterbusch was the deputy studio director and the last chief dramaturge of the DEFA studio for documentary films. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he continued to work as chief dramaturge and head of the studio's film and television productions. In 1995 he broke away from the studio and from then on worked as a freelancer on films and PR projects.

Filmography

As a director

  • 1967: Energy / film magazine on the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution

As a dramaturge

As a screenwriter

  • 1967: Energy / film magazine on the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
  • 1968: face of a youth
  • 1969: here and there
  • 1971: Who, if not us
  • 1971: On behalf of the class
  • 1972: tractor worker
  • 1973: Pablo Neruda
  • 1975: Girls in Wittstock
  • 1985: Monologue by a young man
  • 1986: On the family shaft
  • 1987: The smelters

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Philip Zengel, Juliane Haase: NEWSLETTER of the DEFA Foundation . Ed .: Ralf Schenk. No. 1 . Berlin February 2017, p. 6 ( defa-stiftung.de [PDF]).
  2. ↑ Richard Ritterbusch's memorial page | trauer-angebote.de. Retrieved on April 3, 2019 (German).
  3. ^ A b Ingrid Poss, Christiane Mückenberger, Anne Richter: The principle of curiosity - DEFA documentary filmmakers tell . Ed .: Filmmuseum Potsdam. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-577-09102-2 , pp. 99-119 .
  4. ^ Richard Ritterbusch: Author of www.defa-dokfilm.de. November 26, 2016, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Martin Otto: Ritterbusch, Paul - German biography. Neue Deutsche Biographie, 2003, accessed on April 2, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Ritterbusch, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German director, screenwriter, dramaturge, editor and last chief dramaturge of the DEFA studio for documentary films
DATE OF BIRTH June 1, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH 29th November 2016
Place of death Potsdam