Fridrikh Markovich Ermler (russian: Эрмлер, Фридрих Маркович; born Vladimir Markovich Breslav; 13 May 1898 in

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēzekn ...

– 12 July 1967 in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

film director 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, p ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He was a four-time recipient of the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

(in 1941, twice in 1946, and in 1951). After studying pharmacology, he joined the

Czarist Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...

army in 1917 and soon took part in the

October revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

on the side of the

Bolshevist The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s. Captured and tortured by the

White army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

, he only became a full party member at the end of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. From 1923 to 1924 Ermler studied at the Cinema Academy. In 1932 he took part in creating one of the first Soviet

talkie A sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...

s – the movie ''Vstrechny'' (''The Counterplan''). He also was one of the founders of the Creative Association KEM (together with E. Ioganson). In 1929-1931 Ermler studied at the Communist Academy and wrote for the newspaper ''Kino''. He also became the chairman of the Russian Association of Revolutionary Filmmakers. In 1940 he became the director of the

Lenfilm Lenfilm (russian: link=no, Ленфильм) is a Russian production company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes shared betwee ...

studio. Between 1941 and 1944, he worked at the Central United Film Studio of Feature Films (TsOKS) in Alma-Ata (now Kazakhfilm Film Studio). He died on July 12, 1967 in Komarovo. A memorial plaque was placed on the house in

where he lived from 1930 to 1962.

Filmography

* ''Scarlet Fever (Скарлатина)'' (1924); short * ''Children of the Storm (Дети бури)'' (1926); co-directed with

Eduard Ioganson Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. Formed in 1989 in the city of Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetched brass model components. Following the succ ...

* ''Katka's Reinette Apples (Катька — Бумажный Ранет)'' (1926); co-directed with

* ''

The Parisian Cobbler ''The Parisian Cobbler'' (russian: Парижский сапожник, Parizhskiy sapozhnik) is a 1928 Soviet silent drama film directed by Fridrikh Ermler. Plot Komsomol girl Katya Karnakova (Veronica Buzhinskaya), a darling of the small pro ...

(Парижский сапожник)'' (1927) * ''

The House in the Snow-Drifts ''The House in the Snow-Drifts'' () is a 1928 Soviet drama film directed by Fridrikh Ermler. The story is set in Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, ...

(Дом в сугробах)'' (1928) * ''

Fragment of an Empire ''Fragment of an Empire'' (russian: Обломок империи, Oblomok imperii) is a 1929 Soviet silent drama film directed by Fridrikh Ermler. Plot A soldier called Filimonov lost his memory due to shell shock during the Russian Civil W ...

(Обломок империи)'' (1929) * ''

Counterplan A counterplan is a component of debate theory commonly employed in the activity of parliamentary and policy debate. While some conceptions of debate theory require the negative position in a debate to defend the status quo against an affirmative ...

(Встречный)'' (1932); co-directed with

Sergei Yutkevich Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Ютке́вич, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of ...

* ''

Peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

(Крестьяне)'' (1934) * ''

The Great Citizen ''The Great Citizen'' (russian: Великий гражданин, Velikiy grazhdanin) is a 1938 Soviet biopic film directed by Fridrikh Ermler. A fictionalized biography of Sergei Kirov (the character's name is Shakhov), the film was intended as ...

(Великий гражданин)'' (1939) * ''Balzac in Russia (Бальзак в России)'' (1940) * ''Autumn (Осень)'' (1940); short, co-directed with Isaak Menaker * ''

She Defends the Motherland She Defends the Motherland, (russian: Она защищает Родину) is a 1943 Soviet drama film starring Vera Maretskaya and directed by Fridrikh Ermler. It was distributed in the United States by Artkino Pictures as No Greater Love, also i ...

(Она защищает Родину), also released as No Greater Love'' (1943) * '' The Turning Point (Великий перелом)'' (1945) * ''The Great Force (Великая сила)'' (1949) * ''Dinner Time (Званый ужин)'' (1953) * '' Unfinished Story'' (Неоконченная повесть)'' (1955) * ''The First Day'' (День первый)'' (1958) * ''From New York to Yasnaya Poliana (Из Нью-Йорка в Ясную Поляну)'' (1963); documentary * ''Facing the Judgment of History (Перед судом истории)'' (1965); documentary/interview with

Vasily Shulgin Vasily Vitalyevich Shulgin (russian: Васи́лий Вита́льевич Шульги́н; 13 January 1878 – 15 February 1976) was a Russian conservative monarchist, politician and member of the White movement. Young years Shulgin was bo ...

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia of Russian Cinema

Peter Bagrov in KinoKultura
1898 births 1967 deaths People from Rēzekne People from Rezhitsky Uyezd Latvian Jews Jews from the Russian Empire Soviet Jews Bolsheviks Latvian people of World War I Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet male film actors Soviet film directors Soviet screenwriters Male screenwriters Silent film directors People's Artists of the USSR Stalin Prize winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery {{Latvia-bio-stub