Werner W. Wallroth

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Werner Wolfgang Wallroth (born February 28, 1930 in Erfurt ; † August 9, 2011 in Potsdam ) was a German director and author who worked for the DEFA studio for feature films for over 20 years and during this time he directed eleven feature films.

Werner W. Wallroth around 1985

life and work

Werner Wolfgang Wallroth graduated from high school in 1948 and then began studying German and English in Jena, which he broke off soon after. Various activities followed. Among other things, he was cultural assistant at the City Council of Erfurt and then cultural director at HO Erfurt. There he built up a choir with which he took part in the 1951 World Festival of Youth and Students in East Berlin. In 1954 he began studying directing at the German Academy for Film Art in Babelsberg , which he was able to finish five years later. This was followed by a two-year position as a senior scientific assistant at the Babelsberg Film School. Martin Hellberg was one of his teachers .

Wallroth made his directorial debut in 1961 with the film Das Rabauken-Kabarett with Ernst-Georg Schwill , Peter Reusse , Peter Sindermann and Günter Junghans in the leading roles, followed by the television film Mord in Gateway , when he devoted himself to the adaptation of Wolfgang Schreyer's novel and in 1964 directed the political adventure film Alaska Foxes . His next work, Captain Florian von der Mühle , based on a story by Joachim Kupsch with Manfred Krug in the lead role, was his most successful film and a commercial success in GDR cinemas . After this theatrical success he filmed the German-German comedy His Highness - Comrade Prince with Rolf Ludwig in the role of the East German businessman Kaspar Mai. With this film, Wallroth came into conflict with the GDR censorship, so that he and screenwriter Rudi Strahl had to rework the film "more benevolently".

In 1975 he made the DEFA Indian film Blood Brothers , for which he wrote the scenario together with Wolfgang Ebeling and the actor Dean Reed . Even if the Indian film genre was exhausted at the time, the film was able to achieve considerable public success and, with more than 1.6 million viewers, became one of the most successful films of the year. A good ten years later, he staged his last work for DEFA with the love comedy The Double , which, however, did not build on his previous successes and was hardly noticed by the cinema audience.

Werner W. Wallroth wrote numerous lyrics, among others for Gerry Wolff , Chris Doerk , Nina Hagen , Thomas Lück and Holger Biege , but especially for his brother, the chanson singer and composer Wolfgang Wallroth .

Filmography

Rascals

  • The desired child - recorded in the Schlosstheater Potsdam
  • Act with flower
  • The nephew as uncle - recorded in Halle / Saale

Books

  • Animal children, good afternoon! With illustrations by Hans-Joachim Behrendt . Children's book publisher, Berlin 1977.
  • The forest musicians. With illustrations by Barbara Schumann and compositions by Rudi Werion . Verlag Lied der Zeit, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-7332-0041-1 . (Actually the scenario for Wallroth's last film, which, however, was no longer shot due to the DEFA being wound up)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wallroth, Werner W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wallroth, Werner Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German director and author
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Erfurt
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 2011
Place of death Potsdam