Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation Explained

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation
Native Name:Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung
Native Name Lang:German
Named After:Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Type:Film Foundation
Vat Id:(for European organizations) -->
Status:Active
Purpose:Archiving, maintaining, restoring, and educating the public on German cinema.
Location:Murnaustraße 6, 65189 Wiesbaden, Germany
Coords:50.0662°N 8.2491°W
Services:Archival access, restoration, film and political education.
Language:German
Owners:-->
Leader Title:Managing Director
Leader Name:Ernst Szebedits
Key People:
  • Christian Sommer (Chairman of the Board of Trustees)
  • MinR'in Ulrike Schauz (Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees) representative of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
  • MinR'in Ulrike Kiesche, as a representative of the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts for the Conference of Ministers of Education of the Länder (KMK)
  • Antonio Exacoustos
  • Alfred Holighaus
  • Johannes Klingsporn
  • Daniel Zuta
Website:https://www.murnau-stiftung.de/
Footnotes:[1] [2] [3]

The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation (German: '''Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung''' pronounced as /de/), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 1966 to preserve and curate a collection of the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau as well as a collection of other German films[4] totaling to about 6,000 produced between 1890 and 1960.[5] [6]

History

The foundation is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and was founded in 1966 out of fear that classic German cinema's original stock, and the rights to these films, would be sold off internationally. The stock was originally owned by Bertelsmann. The foundation maintains about 80% of Germany's forbidden Nazi-era films and acts as a gate keeper for public access to these films via archives and curated public screenings.

As an archive and rights holder the Murnau Foundation curates Its most important endowment is the unique, cohesive movie stock, which comprises copies and material as well as rights from the former production companies UFA, Decla, Universum-Film, Bavaria, Terra, Tobis and Berlin-Film.[7] This outstanding inventory of cultural and film history – more than 6,000 silent movies and sound films (feature films, documentaries, short movies and commercials) – covers the period from the beginnings of motion pictures to the early 1960s, and includes movies by important directors such as Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Detlef Sierck, Helmut Käutner, and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the namesake of the foundation. Titles include well-known films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Metropolis (1927), The Blue Angel (1930), The Three from the Filling Station (1930), Münchhausen (1943) and Große Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944).

Theaters

The foundation runs "the German Film House in a central location in the state capital of Hesse – Wiesbaden" as well as the "Murnau cinema theatre where films are shown to the public and a multi-function area where numerous events and exhibitions are held."[8]

Restorations and film stock

The foundation's most prominent film restoration was the 2010 re-release of Fritz Lang's Metropolis which was originally screened at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. It has additionally restored, with financial support from the prior owners of their film stock, Bertelsmann, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari which premiered "at the Berlinale in February 2014"[9] which it won an award for best archive restoration in 2015 from FOCAL International.[10] [11] [12] The foundation was also involved in the restoration of Fritz Lang's Destiny which had "faded and degraded almost beyond recognition."[13] [14] The foundation maintains about 80%[15] of Germany's forbidden Nazi-era films (called "" in German) referring to this collection of 40 films[16] as "reserved" films which are "propagandistic productions created under Hitler, which may only be used for scientific evaluation in Germany and within the framework of political education."[17] [18] This collection includes the notorious Jud Süß, Quax the Crash Pilot, Kolberg, I Accuse, and The Eternal Jew.[19]

Criticism

The treatment of reserved films by the Murnau Foundation has been met with criticism. Critics accuse the foundation of misusing copyrights for film censorship and not for the intended purpose of copyright law where, they argue, the government should institute a ban through legislation instead. Unlike the FSK, there are no legal evaluations for the decisions of the Board of Trustees. Critics also point out the opaque process of deciding which films should be reserved, noting that there is no transparent criteria, the experts consulted are not publicized, and any reports used are not publicized. For instance, the film The Old and the Young King contains Nazi propaganda, however, it was allowed to be screened publicly. Additionally, the nature of the reserved film screenings has been criticized, since the only option is to view them with accompanying expert supervision, commentary, and discussion.

External links

German entry on Vorbehaltsfilmen

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ernst Szedebits. n.d.. Filmfestival Kitzbühel. October 31, 2018. Ernst Szebedits, partner of new pegasos filmproduktion and longtime chairman of the Association of the Hessian Film Industry, was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Murnau Foundation under the chairmanship of Eberhard Junkersdorf.. November 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181101135901/http://ffkb.at/en/cubeportfolio/ernst-szedebits/. dead.
  2. News: 'Nosferatu' Director F.W. Murnau's Head Stolen From German Crypt. Johnson. Alex. July 15, 2015. NBC News. October 31, 2018. "We have received this news with disbelief," documentary film director Ernst Szebedits, managing director of the foundation, said Wednesday..
  3. Web site: Kuratorium. n.d.. Murnau Stiftung. November 1, 2018.
  4. News: "Metropolis" in der Urfassung. 6 March 2009. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 6 December 2011. de.
  5. Web site: Filmbestand der Murnau-Stiftung. de. November 2, 2018.
  6. Web site: 50th anniversary of the Murnau Foundation: Keeper of the German Film Treasure. Hetebrügge. Jörn. July 2016. Goethe-Institut. Translated by Jonathan Uhlaner. https://web.archive.org/web/20181101013533/https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/flm/20796568.html. November 1, 2018. live. October 31, 2018.
  7. Web site: Über Die Murnau-Stiftung. n.d.. Murnau Stiftung. de. November 1, 2018. Wichtigstes Stiftungskapital ist der einzigartige, in sich geschlossene Filmstock, der Kopien und Materialien der ehemaligen Produktionsfirmen Ufa, Universum-Film, Bavaria, Terra, Tobis und Berlin-Film – samt den damit verbundenen Rechten – aus über sechs Jahrzehnten deutscher Filmproduktion umfasst..
  8. Web site: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation. n.d.. Arts in Exile. November 1, 2018.
  9. Web site: Bertelsmann Brings Restored Film Classic 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' to Paris. September 28, 2015. Bertelsmann. November 1, 2018.
  10. News: Footage Award Winners Honoured at FOCAL International's 12th Annual Gala Awards Ceremony. May 22, 2015. FOCAL International. November 1, 2018. Best Archive Restoration / Preservation Title Sponsored by ACSIL • Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari - Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung (Germany). November 6, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181106132237/https://www.focalint.org/focal-international-news/news/1926/footage-award-winners-honoured-at-focal-internationals-12th-annual-gala-awards-ceremony. dead.
  11. Web site: 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' – A Classic Goes Digital. Bertelsmann. November 1, 2018.
  12. Web site: Bertelsmann Presents Restored Movie Classic 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' in New York: Highlight of the German Films Festival 'KINO! 2016'. April 12, 2016. Bertelsmann. November 1, 2018.
  13. Web site: Interview with Anke Wilkening of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung regarding the restored 'Destiny'. Kramer. Fritzi. August 26, 2016. Movies Silently. https://web.archive.org/web/20160827070626/http://moviessilently.com/2016/08/26/interview-with-anke-wilkening-of-the-friedrich-wilhelm-murnau-stiftung-regarding-the-restored-destiny/. August 27, 2016. live. November 1, 2018.
  14. News: Destiny: an eye-popping restoration of Fritz Lang's classic. Brady. Tara. June 8, 2017. The Irish Times. November 1, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20170801035303/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/destiny-an-eye-popping-restoration-of-fritz-lang-s-classic-1.3109330. August 1, 2017. live. The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation and its partners spent more than a year restoring the original colours and intertitles to a film that, since its 1921 heyday, had faded and degraded almost beyond recognition..
  15. News: Wie viel Gift steckt noch in den 'Vorbehaltsfilmen'?. Rodek. Hanns-Georg. January 31, 2012. Welt. November 1, 2018. de.
  16. Web site: Ich klage an!. Schmid. Hans. March 27, 2010. Telepolis. de. November 1, 2018.
  17. News: Hitlers Propaganda-Filme Wenn aus dem Einmarsch eine Heimkehr wird. Westphal. Anke. March 5, 2014. Berliner Zeitung. November 1, 2018. de.
  18. Web site: Ein Sonderfall deutscher Kulturgeschichte: Vom Umgang mit NS-Propagandafilmen. Heinzelmann. Herbert. September 21, 2006. KinoFenster.de. de. November 1, 2018.
  19. Sampson. Sally. 1993. The Limits of Liberty. Index on Censorship. 22. 10. 2–3. 10.1080/03064229308535609. free.

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