AN ANGEL IN HELL: ARTUR BRAUNER AND THE ATTEMPT TO MAKE A GERMAN OSKARSCHINDLER- BIOPIC
Film Studies tends to deal only with film projects that have been completedand pays particular attention to the work of directors, thus largely ignoringthe fact that the vast majority of attempts to make movies fail, andmarginalising the crucial role played by scriptwriters and producers inthe initiation and development of film projects. To counter this tendency,this essay examines the unsuccessful attempt, between the 1970s and theearly 1990s, of Artur Brauner, one of the leading producers in postwar(West) Germany, to make a biopic about Oskar Schindler. Like the Jewishworkers rescued by Schindler, Brauner is a Jewish Holocaust survivorfrom Poland whose career as a producer has combined mainstreamentertainment movies with films about the Third Reich and especiallyabout the Holocaust. The essay explores the full range of his activities asa producer on the Schindler biopic – ranging from script developmentand financing to negotiations with actors and directors; highlights theirtransnational dimensions (through the involvement of personnel and coproductionpartners from France, the UK, Israel, the US, Poland, and theSoviet Union); and explores the refusal of (West) German funding bodiesto support this project.
Cehennemde Bir Melek: Artur Brauner ve Bir Alman Oskar- Schindler-Biografik-Film’i Yaratma Girişimi
Film Çalışmaları yalnızca tamamlanmış film projeleri ile ilgilenme eğiliminde olup yönetmenlerin işlerine özel önem atfeder, bu yüzden film yapma denemelerinin büyük çoğunluğunun başarısız olduğu gerçeğini göz ardı ederek film projelerinin gerçekleştirilmesinde senaryo yazarları ve yapımcıların merkezi rolünü marjinalize eder. Bu makale, bu eğilime karşı koymak için savaş sonrası (Batı) Almanya’nın önde gelen yapımcılarından Artur Brauner’in başarısız olan, 1970’ler ve 1990’ların başı arasındaki Oskar Schindler hakkında bir biyografik film yapma girişimini incelemektedir. Yapımcı olarak kariyeri anaakım eğlence filmleri ile 3. Reich ve özellikle Holokost ile ilgili filmlerin birleşiminden oluşan Brauner, tıpkı Schindler tarafından kurtarılan Yahudi işçiler gibi Polonya’da Holokosttan sağ kurtulan bir Yahudidir. Bu çalışma, onun Schindler biyografik filminin yapımcısı olarak -senaryo geliştirme ve finansmandan yönetmen ve oyuncularla pazarlıklara kadar- eylemlerinin tamamını inceler, uluslararası boyutunu (Fransa, Birleşik Krallık, İsrail, Birleşik Devletler, Polonya ve Sovyetler Birliği’nden eleman ve ortak yapımcıların dahil oluşları üzerinden) aydınlatır ve (Batı) Alman fonlama kuruluşlarının bu projeyi desteklemeyi reddedişini araştırır.
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- ABA = Artur-Brauner-Archiv (Artur Brauner Archive), Deutsches
Filminstitut (German Film Institute), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- BMI = Bundesministerium des Innern (Federal Ministry of the
Interior)
- CCC = Central Cinema Comp.-Film GmbH, later CCC-Filmkunst
- FFA = Filmförderungsanstalt (German Federal Film Board)
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