1. Kurt Maetzig was a German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in East Germany.
17 Facts About Kurt Maetzig
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Kurt Maetzig was one of the most respected filmmakers of the GDR.
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Kurt Maetzig was the son of Robert Maetzig and Marie Maetzig.
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Kurt Maetzig was born and grew up in the Charlottenburg borough of Berlin.
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Kurt Maetzig's mother came from a wealthy family of tea merchants.
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Kurt Maetzig gained an insight into the film industry from an early age as his father was the proprietor of a factory that produced film copies there.
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Kurt Maetzig then enrolled at the Technical University of Munich, where he studied chemistry, engineering and political and business economics.
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Kurt Maetzig studied sociology, psychology and law for a year at the Sorbonne in Paris.
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Kurt Maetzig began shooting his own films in 1932, and three years later he ran his own cartoon workshop, where he worked on titles and opening credits for short films.
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Kurt Maetzig then ran a small photochemical laboratory in Berlin and gave lectures on film technology.
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Kurt Maetzig joined the newly founded state-owned film studio, DEFA, in 1947, where he worked as a director both of documentaries and feature films.
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Kurt Maetzig was the first director and editor of the weekly newsreel "Der Augenzeuge".
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Kurt Maetzig directed the film Das Kaninchen bin ich, which was one of twelve films that were banned in East Germany after the 11th plenum of the SED's Central Committee for being too critical of the internal social problems within the country.
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Kurt Maetzig died on 8 August 2012 in Wildkuhl, Mecklenburg.
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From 1954 to 1964, Kurt Maetzig was the first president of the German University of Cinema in Potsdam-Babelsberg, where he held the post of Professor of Stage Direction.
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Kurt Maetzig then became the vice-president of the Federation Internationale des Cine-Clubs in 1974.
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Kurt Maetzig was president of the Nationales Spielfilmfestival der DDR on four separate occasions between 1980 and 1990, and he has been a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin since 1950, where a considerable archive of his works is located.