Artur Brauner

Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 − 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946.

Artur Brauner
Brauner attending the Berlinale 2018
Born
Abraham Brauner

(1918-08-01)1 August 1918[1]
Died7 July 2019(2019-07-07) (aged 100)
Berlin, Germany
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1946–2019

Life and career

He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family in Łódź, Poland. His father was a timber wholesaler. Brauner attended a general education liceum in Łódź, where he took the matura final exam, and then studied at a local polytechnic technical school until the German attack on Poland in September 1939.[3] With his parents and four siblings, he fled to the Soviet Union and survived the Holocaust.[4] Following the war, he and his brother, Wolf Brauner emigrated to Berlin;[5] his parents and three of his siblings emigrated to Israel.[3] Twelve of his relatives were killed at Babi Yar,[6] among forty-nine who died at the hands of the Nazis.[7]

Brauner married Theresa Albert, called Maria, in 1947. They had four children.[3]

As a young man, he saw Fritz Lang's film The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, which affected him greatly, making him interested in film. In September 1946, he founded the Central Cinema Company or CCC Films in the American sector of Berlin. He produced Sag' die Wahrheit, one of the first films produced in Germany after the war, followed by Morituri, which was a commercial failure and threw him into debt. Brauner realised that to produce critically successful films he had to make up their losses by producing critically derided films that were appreciated by the public. He lured back many Germans who had experience in Hollywood such as Robert Siodmak and later Fritz Lang who started a revival of Dr. Mabuse.[8]

In 2009, Yad Vashem received a donation of 21 of Brauner's productions having to do with the Holocaust, including Die Weiße Rose, The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (Der 20. Juli) and Man and Beast (Mensch und Bestie). In 2010, Yad Vashem opened a media center in Brauner's name.[9] Brauner called it the "crowning achievement of my film career".[10]

Brauner was a prominent member of the Jewish community of Berlin and a recipient of the Bundesverdienstkreuz.[11] At the 2003 Berlinale, he was awarded the Berlinale Kamera honouring his lifetime achievement. His many other awards included two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award for his co-production of the film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Vittorio De Sica. Brauner lived and worked in Berlin.[3] He turned 100 in August 2018.[12]

Brauner died on 7 July 2019 in Berlin.[13]

Artur Brauner (left) shaking hands with Willy Brandt (1971).

Selected filmography

Brauner produced over 250 movies. Here a list of selected films produced by him:[14]

Year Title Director Notes
1946 Tell the Truth Helmut Weiss
1947 King of Hearts Helmut Weiss
1948 Morituri Eugen York
1949 Don't Play with Love Hans Deppe
1949 Girls Behind Bars Alfred Braun
1950 Five Suspects Kurt Hoffmann
1950 The Orplid Mystery Helmut Käutner
1952 All Clues Lead to Berlin František Čáp
1953 The Empress of China Steve Sekely
1955 The Star of Rio Kurt Neumann
1955 The Plot to Assassinate Hitler Falk Harnack German Federal Film Award
1955 Die Ratten Robert Siodmak Golden Bear
1955 The Captain and His Hero Max Nosseck
1956 Before Sundown Gottfried Reinhardt Golden Bear (Audience award)
1957 The Last Ones Shall Be First Rolf Hansen
1957 Kindermädchen für Papa gesucht Hans Quest
1957 Just Once a Great Lady Erik Ode
1958 Confess, Doctor Corda Josef von Báky
1958 It Happened in Broad Daylight Ladislao Vajda
1958 Münchhausen in Afrika Werner Jacobs
1958 Mädchen in Uniform Géza von Radványi
1958 Der Stern von Santa Clara Werner Jacobs
1959 Here I Am, Here I Stay Werner Jacobs
1959 Der Tiger von Eschnapur Fritz Lang
1959 Das indische Grabmal Fritz Lang
1959 And That on Monday Morning Luigi Comencini
1959 Menschen im Hotel Gottfried Reinhardt
1959 The Black Chapel Ralph Habib
1959 Abschied von den Wolken Gottfried Reinhardt
1959 The Day the Rains Came Gerd Oswald
1959 Old Heidelberg Ernst Marischka
1960 Sweetheart of the Gods Gottfried Reinhardt
1960 Mistress of the World William Dieterle 2 films
1960 The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse Fritz Lang
1960 Stefanie in Rio Curtis Bernhardt
1960 The Good Soldier Schweik Axel von Ambesser Nominated for a Golden Globe
1960 Sabine und die 100 Männer Wilhelm Thiele
1961 World in My Pocket Alvin Rakoff
1961 The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi Kurt Hoffmann
1961 Via Mala Paul May
1961 The Shadows Grow Longer Ladislao Vajda
1961 Das Riesenrad Géza von Radványi
1961 Robert and Bertram Hans Deppe
1961 The Return of Doctor Mabuse Harald Reinl
1961 Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein Géza von Radványi 2 films
1962 The Brain Freddie Francis
1962 The Devil's Agent John Paddy Carstairs
1962 Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace Terence Fisher
1962 Doctor Sibelius Rudolf Jugert
1963 Station Six-Sahara Seth Holt
1963 Man and Beast Edwin Zbonek
1963 Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse Paul May
1964 Old Shatterhand Hugo Fregonese
1964 Der Schut Robert Siodmak
1964 Fanny Hill Russ Meyer
1965 The Treasure of the Aztecs Robert Siodmak
1965 The Pyramid of the Sun God Robert Siodmak
1966 Long Legs, Long Fingers Alfred Vohrer
1966 Zeugin aus der Hölle Žika Mitrović
1966/67 Die Nibelungen Harald Reinl 2 films
1967 The Peking Medallion James Hill
1968 Tevye and His Seven Daughters Menahem Golan
1968/69 Kampf um Rom Robert Siodmak 2 films
1970 The Bird with the Crystal Plumage Dario Argento
1970 The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Vittorio De Sica Academy Award
1971 Black Beauty James Hill
1971 Vampyros Lesbos Jess Franco
1972 The Dead Are Alive Armando Crispino
1975 Sie sind frei, Dr. Korczak Aleksander Ford
1977 Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein Thomas Engel TV miniseries
1981 Charlotte Frans Weisz
1981 Nach Mitternacht Wolf Gremm
1982 The Passerby Jacques Rouffio
1982 Die Weiße Rose Michael Verhoeven
1983 S.A.S. à San Salvador Raoul Coutard
1983 A Love in Germany Andrzej Wajda
1984 After Your Decrees Jerzy Hoffman
1985 Angry Harvest Agnieszka Holland Nominated Academy Award
1987 Der Stein des Todes Franz Josef Gottlieb
1988 Hanussen István Szabó Nominated Academy Award
1989 The Rose Garden Fons Rademakers
1990 Europa Europa Agnieszka Holland Golden Globe
1992 Warsaw – Year 5703 Janusz Kijowski
1996 From Hell to Hell Dmitri Astrakhan
2003 Babiy Yar Jeff Kanew
2006 The Last Train Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová
2011 Wunderkinder Marcus O. Rosenmüller

Publications

  • Mich gibt's nur einmal (autobiography). Munich, Berlin: Herbig (1976) ISBN 978-3-7766-0775-8

Awards

References

  1. "Film producer and Holocaust survivor Artur Brauner dies". Daily Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  2. "German film producer, Holocaust survivor Artur Brauner, dies at age 100". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. "Filmportal: Artur Brauner (German)". Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  4. "Artur Brauner, Producer of Films on Holocaust, Dies at 100". New York Times. 12 July 2019. p. A 21. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  5. Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim, eds. (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-57181-655-9.
  6. Boston, William: "Burying the Past" Time (1 October 2003). Retrieved 29 February 2012
  7. Hans Schmid, "Old Atze und der Schatz im Silbersee" Heise Online. (23 August 2008) Retrieved 1 March 2012 (in German)
  8. Kalat, David: German Trash Cinema: The Story of Artur Brauner in: The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse: A Study of the Twelve Films and Five Novels. McFarland (2005), pp. 131–142
  9. "German film producer to receive Yad Vashem honour" Archived January 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Deutsche Presse-Agentur (2010). Retrieved 1 March 2012
  10. "German film producer, Holocaust survivor Artur Brauner, dies at age 100". DW.com. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  11. Benhabib, Liat; Ash, Mimi (April 2010). "Visual Center Receives Artur Brauner Film Collection" (PDF). www.yadvashem.org. p. 20. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  12. "Zum 100. Geburtstag von Filmproduzent Artur Brauner". www.faz.net. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  13. "Artur Brauner wurde 100 Jahre alt: Film-Legende verstorben". Bild (in German). 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  14. "Artur Brauner: 100 years old with 250 film productions under his belt". DW.com. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  15. "Old Shatterhand". Goldene Leinwand. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  16. "Der Schut" (in German). Goldene Leinwand. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  17. "Die Nibelungen" (in German). Goldene Leinwand. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  18. Robert C. Reimer; Carol J. Reimer (April 2010). The A to Z of German Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-4617-3186-3.
  19. "Artur Brauner, Holocaust Survivor and German Film Producer, Dies at 100". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  20. "Artur Brauner: 100 years old with 250 film productions under his belt". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  21. "Filmlegende Artur Brauner im Alter von 100 Jahren verstorben" (in German). Golden Kamera. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
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