Günter Reisch (24 November 1927 – 24 February 2014) was a German

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He served in the German Army during the last stage of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 20 April 1944 he became a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. After his release from an American POW camp, he returned to

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

and joined the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant for young adults, both male a ...

and later the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

. He started working with theater and film and became one of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

's most prominent film makers. He made 20 films, including the two '' Karl Liebknecht films''. His 1978 film '' Anton the Magician'' was entered into the

11th Moscow International Film Festival The 11th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 14 to 28 August 1979. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian-French film ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (film), Christ Stopped at Eboli'' directed by Francesco Rosi, the Spanish film ''S ...

Selected filmography

* '' The Sailor's Song'' (1958) * '' New Year's Eve Punch'' (1960) * '' Ach du fröhliche...'' (1962) * '' Anton the Magician'' (1978) * '' The Fiancee'' (1979)

References

External links

* 1927 births 2014 deaths Film people from Berlin Nazi Party members Socialist Unity Party of Germany members German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Heinrich Greif Prize Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold {{Germany-film-director-stub