Edgar Reitz (born 1 November 1932) is a German

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design) in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. He is best-known for his internationally acclaimed '' Heimat film series'' (1984-2013).

Early life and education

Reitz was born in Morbach,

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced mountain range, upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle (river), Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued ...

. His father Robert was a watchmaker and his business in Morbach was later taken over by Reitz's brother Guido. Reitz's interest in acting and producing plays began in his school years in

Simmern Simmern (; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of roughly 7,600 inhabitants (2013) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen. In the Rhin ...

, where he was encouraged by his German teacher Karl Windhäuser. After taking his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

, he studied

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, Germa ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

and theatre studies in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

from 1952. His first experiences in film-making however were not theoretical; he worked as a camera, editing, and production assistant from 1953. His interests in the advancement of new developments in film went as far as he cooperated with

Wolfgang Georgsdorf Wolfgang Paul Georgsdorf (born 10 September 1959 in Linz, Austria) is an Austrian media artist, director, sculptor, musician, author, researcher, and inventor based in Berlin. He was founder and spokesman of Opal-so-nicht which resulted in a su ...

and his ''

Osmodrama Osmodrama: from the Greek osme (smell) and the ancient Greek dráma (plot), describes the performance of time-based olfactory art using the experimental scent-playing ‘organ’ Smeller 2.0, as well as the festival Osmodrama – Storytelling with ...

'' in 2016 which led to a complete scent synchronisation of his movie “home from home” which premiered as an allegedly well functioned cinema on 17 July 2016.

Institut für Filmgestaltung

In 1963 along with Alexander Kluge he founded the ''Institut für Filmgestaltung'' (Institute for Film Design) which was affiliated to the Ulm School of Design, where he taught

film directing A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pro ...

and camera theory until the School of Design closed in 1968. As part of the group around Kluge, Reitz was a participant in the

Oberhausen Manifesto The Oberhausen Manifesto was a declaration by a group of 26 young German filmmakers at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia on 28 February 1962. The manifesto was a call to arms to establish a "new German feat ...

which was announced at the

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

Short Film Festival of 1962. With this manifesto young German filmmakers demanded nothing less than a new form of cinema: "Der alte Film ist tot. Wir glauben an den neuen." ("The old film is dead. We believe in the new film"). The manifesto is associated with the motto "Papas Kino ist tot" ("Papa's cinema is dead"). Subsequently, the concept of the

auteur An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

gained in popularity in Germany, and Reitz played a significant role in shaping this concept in the following years.

Awards

Reitz received one of his first awards for his film ''Mahlzeiten'' which was awarded the prize for best debut work at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 1967. In 1971 he founded Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion (ERF) in Munich. He now began to collaborate on films with his former academic colleague Alexander Kluge amongst them the 1974 fictitious documentary ''In Gefahr und größter Not bringt der Mittelweg den Tod''. The lavish production costs of the 1979 film '' The Tailor of Ulm'', which portrays the downfall of the aviation pioneer Albrecht Berblinger, caused Reitz's own financial circumstances to suffer. The film was entered into the 11th Moscow International Film Festival. It was during this crisis that the idea for a film project about his homeland, the

, first came to Reitz. What began as an attempt at self-discovery, ultimately broadened out into the ''

Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it ha ...

'' trilogy (from 1984), which met with critical acclaim, an enthusiastic international audience, and numerous prizes. With this epic and monumental production, Reitz achieved a quite new perspective, an approach, both poetical and realistic, to the past of Germany as it might have played out in the provinces. In 2004 Reitz was awarded the

Carl Zuckmayer Medal The Carl Zuckmayer Medal (german: Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille) is a literary prize given by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in memory of Carl Zuckmayer. The medal itself was fashioned by state artist Otto Kallenbach. The prize is also given with a ...

by the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

for his life's work. In the same year, he received the Master of Cinema Award of the

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (german: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cit ...

. Reitz is married to the singer and actress

Salome Kammer Salome Kammer (born 17 January 1959 in Nidda, Hesse, West Germany) is a German actress, singer and cellist. Professional career Kammer was the fourth of six children. Her father was a Protestant pastor. Although born in Nidda, she grew up in ...

(who appeared in Heimats 2 and 3) and lives in Munich. He is an atheist.Matteo Galli, ''Edgar Reitz'', Il Castoro, 2006, p. 25.

Selected filmography

* '' Lust for Love'' (''Mahlzeiten'') (1967) * '' Cardillac'' (1970) * '' Trip to Vienna'' (''Die Reise nach Wien'') (1973) * '' In Danger and Deep Distress, the Middleway Spells Certain Death'' (''In Gefahr und größter Not bringt der Mittelweg den Tod'') (1974) (co-director: Alexander Kluge) * '' Zero Hour'' (''Stunde Null'') (1977) * "Grenzstation" in ''Germany in Autumn'' (''Deutschland im Herbst'') (1978) * ''

The Tailor from Ulm ''The Tailor from Ulm'' (german: Der Schneider von Ulm) is a 1978 West German drama film directed by Edgar Reitz, of ''Heimat'' fame. It is the true story of a German pioneer aviator, Albrecht Berblinger, in the late 18th century. It was entered ...

'' (''Der Schneider von Ulm'') (1978) * ''

'' (1984, TV series) * '' Home from Home'' (''Die andere Heimat'') (2013)

Miscellaneous

* '' Eight Hundred Times Lonely'' (''800 Mal Einsam – Ein Tag mit dem Filmemacher Edgar Reitz'') (2019), film portrait of Edgar Reitz by the German filmmaker Anna Hepp

Sources

This article is derived principally from the German Wikipedia article of the same name and the sources listed there.

External links

Edgar Reitz's official website
*

(via UC Berkeley)

from

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

Long article about Reitz and Heimat
by Carole Angier, from

Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

, 1991
heimat123.de: substantial archive with information, reports, discussion and material about Edgar Reitz and his films

Heimat fan page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reitz, Edgar 1932 births Living people People from Bernkastel-Wittlich People from the Rhine Province German atheists Mass media people from Rhineland-Palatinate Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin