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Ruth Beckermann

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Ruth Beckermann in 2018

Ruth Beckermann(born 1952) is an Austrian filmmaker and writer, who lives and works inViennaandParis.Her films have been shown at prestigious festivals, andPaper BridgeandEast of Warwon several major awards.

Early life and education[edit]

Ruth Beckermann was born in Vienna, Austria in 1952. Her parents were Jewish survivors ofthe Holocaust.[1]

Beckermann studied journalism and art history inViennaandTel Aviv,and received herdoctoratein 1977. InNew Yorkshe studied photography at theSchool of Visual Arts.[2]During her studies, she contributed as a journalist to several Austrian and Swiss magazines.[3]

Career[edit]

Her first film was made in cooperation with Josef Aichholzer and Franz Grafl of theVideogroup Arenain 1977. Shot on video and16mmfilm,Arena Besetzt(Arena Squatted) documented the occupation of the old Viennese slaughterhouseArena.[4][5]The following year, Beckermann founded the film distribution companyFilmladenalong with Aichholzer and Grafl, where she continued working until 1985.[citation needed]

In 1978 and 1981, filmed shot two documentaries,Suddenly A Strike[6]andThe Steelhammer Out there on The Grasson the topics of labour and strike.[7]

In 1983, Beckermann releasedReturn to Vienna,which documents the journeys and experiences of Franz West, a Jewish Social Democrat living in Vienna during the First and Second World Wars.[8][9]The film is the first of a trilogy, in which Beckermann deals with Jewish narratives of loss, memory and identity. Following this film,Paper Bridge(1987) depicts a journey leading from Vienna to Romania, where Beckermann visits the Bukovina region, the birthplace of her father during a time when this region was still underHabsburgrule.[10]InTowards JerusalemBeckermann travels between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem while exploring the Zionist utopia of a Jewish homeland.[11]These films -Return to Vienna,Paper BridgeandTowards Jerusalemuse different forms of travel as both content and formal organising principle.[citation needed]

In 1996,East of War[12]was made during the so-calledWehrmachtsausstellung.In front of the out-of-focus-photographs, former soldiers of the German Wehrmacht talk about their experiences beyond the "normal" war. A film which not only pushes forward the destruction of the "good-Wehrmacht" myth, but also takes a close look at the process of constructing history inpost-World War II Austria.[citation needed]

In her 1999 film,A Fleeting Passage to The Orient,she follows the traces ofElisabeth of Bavaria.[13]In 2001,homemad(e)depicts how the political turn in 2000 was reflected in a Viennese coffee house.[14]

Five years later, she followed four 12-year-olds on their journey toBar Mitzva.[15][16]was shown in festivals in Paris' (Cinema du Reel,[17]), Vienna (Viennale[18]06) inBuenos AiresandChicago,and became a success with audiences.[citation needed]

In 2011,American Passages,[19][20]premiered in the competition[21]at theCinéma du Réel.[22]

Most of her films have premiered at theBerlin International Film Festival[23]or theCinéma du RéelinParis.[24]

A DVD collection of her films was released in 2007.[citation needed]

Other activities[edit]

Beckermann is a founding member of the Austrian Documentary and Filmmakers Society.[25]

She has authored several books.[citation needed]

She taught at theUniversity of Salzburg,the University of Illinois,and at theUniversity of Applied Arts Vienna.[citation needed]

Recognition[edit]

Beckermann's filmsPaper BridgeandEast of Warwon several major awards. In addition, she has been awarded the following prizes:

Filmography[edit]

  • Favoriten(2024)
  • Mutzenbacher(2022)
  • The Waldheim Waltz(2018)
  • The Dreamed Ones(Die Geträumten;2016), based on correspondence between poetsIngeborg BachmannandPaul Celan[29][30]
  • Those Who Go Those Who Stay(2013)
  • Jackson/Marker 4AM(2012)
  • American Passages(2011)
  • Zorros Bar Mizwa(2006)
  • Homemad(e)(2000)
  • A Fleeting Passage to the Orient(Ein flüchtiger Zug nach dem Orient;1999)
  • East of War(Jenseits des Krieges;1996)
  • Towards Jerusalem(Nach Jerusalem;1991)
  • The Paper Bridge(1987)
  • Return to Vienna(1983)
  • Arena Squatted(1977)

References[edit]

  1. ^Baker and Rohrbacher (2009). ""E/Motion Pictures": Conversations with Austrian Documentary Filmmakers Mirjam Unger and Ruth Beckermann ".Women in German Yearbook.
  2. ^"School of Visual Arts > Fine Arts and Graphic Design School in New York City".Schoolofvisualarts.edu. 29 August 2012.Retrieved16 September2012.
  3. ^"The Waldheim Waltz by Ruth Beckermann and Lamaland by Pablo Sigg winners at 14th Play-Doc".Play-Doc. 29 April 2018.Retrieved1 May2024.
  4. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  5. ^"Arena besetzt".DocumentaMadrid.Retrieved2 May2020.
  6. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann. 5 November 1978.Retrieved8 October2012.
  7. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann. 28 March 1981.Retrieved8 October2012.
  8. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  9. ^Return to ViennaatIMDbEdit this at Wikidata
  10. ^"Ruth Beckermann".www.ruthbeckermann.com.Retrieved23 October2015.
  11. ^"Towards Jerusalem".ruthbeckermann.com.
  12. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  13. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  14. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  15. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  16. ^"Zorro's Bar Mitzvah".Icarusfilms.com. 23 July 2012.Retrieved16 September2012.
  17. ^"Zorro's Bar Mitswa (Zorros Bar Mizwa) - Cinéma du réel".Archived fromthe originalon 25 July 2011.Retrieved15 March2011.
  18. ^"Filmprogramm | Viennale".Archived fromthe originalon 6 July 2011.Retrieved15 March2011.
  19. ^"Ruth Beckermann".Ruth Beckermann.Retrieved8 October2012.
  20. ^"American Passages - Cinéma du réel".Archived fromthe originalon 25 July 2011.Retrieved15 March2011.
  21. ^[1]ArchivedJuly 25, 2011, at theWayback Machine
  22. ^[2]ArchivedJanuary 23, 2011, at theWayback Machine
  23. ^"Berlinale: 1987 Programm".Berlinale.de.Retrieved16 September2012.
  24. ^"Cinéma du Réel Award Lists since 1979 - Cinéma du réel".Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2010.Retrieved22 April2010.
  25. ^"/ Aktuelles".Dok.at.Retrieved8 October2012.
  26. ^"Manès-Sperber-Preis für Literatur".Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport(in German).Retrieved19 May2023.
  27. ^"Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Ruth Beckermann"(photo).BKA Fotoservice(in German). 9 October 2015.Retrieved19 May2023.
  28. ^"Awards".Berlinale.Retrieved19 May2023.
  29. ^Oltermann, Philip (17 November 2016)."Poets' unlikely love letters are turned into critically acclaimed film".The Guardian.Retrieved16 May2023.
  30. ^The Dreamed OnesatIMDbEdit this at Wikidata

Further reading[edit]

  • Alexander Horwath, Michael Omasta (Ed.):Ruth Beckermann,FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen Vol. 29, Vienna: 2016,ISBN978-3-901644-68-9
  • Eszter Kondor, Michael Loebenstein (Ed.):Ruth Beckermann,FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen, Vienna: 2019,ISBN978-3-901644-80-1

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruth_Beckermann&oldid=1221747783"