Oscar Martay

Last updated
Ingeborg Martay (Renate Barken) and visitor. Exhibition opening of the artist Rengha Rodewill, Berlin-Mitte (2000) Ingeborg Martay 2001.jpg
Ingeborg Martay (Renate Barken) and visitor. Exhibition opening of the artist Rengha Rodewill, Berlin-Mitte (2000)
Grave of Oscar and Ingeborg Martay on the Waldfriedhof Berlin-Zehlendorf (Zehlendorf forest cemetery) (2018) Grave Oscar and Ingeborg Martay.jpg
Grave of Oscar and Ingeborg Martay on the Waldfriedhof Berlin-Zehlendorf (Zehlendorf forest cemetery) (2018)

Oscar Martay (August 22, 1920 in Stowbtsy, Belarus - October 31, 1995 Berlin, Germany) [1] was the person who, through his role of a film officer of the US Army, proposed the idea and used his influence to persuade the American Military to fund the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) which was founded in 1951. [2] [3]

During the peak of the Cold War in 1950, Oscar Martay, who was stationed in Berlin as a film officer of the Information Service Branch of the American High Commissioner for Germany, suggested the foundation of the Berlin International Film Festival. [3] [4] The proposal was put through a committee including members of the Senate of Berlin and people from the German film industry on October 9, 1950. Through his efforts and influence, the American military administration was persuaded to assist and to give loans for the first years of the Berlinale which held the first festival in June 1951. [2] [5]

The Berlinale recognized his role and he was one of the people who received the Golden Bear award in 1951. [2]

When Martay left the Army, he worked in film production in Germany. [2] His wife Ingeborg founded the film company Zenit-Film Ingeborg Martay (Berlin/West) [6] in 1957. Oscar Martay worked as a production manager. [7]

Personal life

As a Jewish emigrant, he lived in the US and was sent to Germany after World War II as a film officer. In 1955, Oscar Martay marries Renate Barken (1920—2014), [8] a German actress. He dies in 1995. [2] They have 2 sons, Kenneth Andreas (1956) is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington, and Manuel (1960) is a social worker living in Germany. Oscar and Ingeborg Martay are buried in the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf Berlin Germany. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Beyer</span> German director

Frank Paul Beyer was a German film director. In East Germany he was one of the most important film directors, working for the state film monopoly DEFA and directed films that dealt mostly with the Nazi era and contemporary East Germany. His film Trace of Stones was banned for 20 years in 1966 by the ruling SED. His 1975 film Jacob the Liar was the only East German film ever nominated for an Academy Award. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 until his death he mostly directed television films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans W. Geißendörfer</span> German film director and producer (born 1941)

Hans W. Geißendörfer is a German film director and producer.

Eric John Bryan Pratt, known professionally as John Bryan, was a British art director and film producer.

The Deutsches Filminstitut – DIF is an institute for the study of film, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin International Film Festival</span> Annual international film festival in Berlin, Germany

The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.

<i>The Miracle of Father Malachia</i> 1961 film

The Miracle of Father Malachia is a 1961 West German black-and-white film directed by Bernhard Wicki and starring Horst Bollmann. The film is based on the 1931 novel Father Malachy's Miracle by Bruce Marshall and tells the story of a supposed miracle in a West German town that is soon exploited and sensationalized by the media and profiteers. The film won several awards and was the official West German submission to the 34th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

<i>The Turning Point</i> (1983 film) 1983 film

The Turning Point is a 1983 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Sylvester Groth, Fred Düren and Klaus Piontek. The film is based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Hermann Kant, which was based on Kant's own experience as a prisoner of war in Poland. The film tells the story of a German prisoner of war at the end of World War II who is wrongly accused of being a war criminal. The film was controversial upon release as Polish commentators criticized that the film showed the Polish army wrongly accusing someone of war crimes. Nevertheless, the film was successful and won several awards and was the East German official submission to the 56th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ildikó Enyedi</span> Hungarian film director and screenwriter

Ildikó Enyedi is a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for directing On Body and Soul, which won the top prize at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival among other awards, and was nominated for a Foreign Language Academy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingeborg von Kusserow</span> German actress

Ingeborg von Kusserow was a German film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Kohlhaase</span> German film director and screenwriter (1931–2022)

Wolfgang Kohlhaase was a German screenwriter, film director, and writer. He was considered "one of the most important screenwriters in German film history", and was one of the GDR's most well-known and prolific film screenwriters. Kohlhaase was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Petzold (director)</span> German film director

Christian Petzold is a German film director and screenwriter. Part of the 21st century Berlin School film movement, he has received international recognition for directing films such as Jerichow (2008), Barbara (2012), and Phoenix (2014), all collaborations with actress Nina Hoss. For Barbara, Petzold won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renate Krößner</span> German actress (1945–2020)

Renate Krößner, also known as Renate Krössner, was a German actress who was internationally recognized for roles in films and television. She was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actress of the Berlinale for the title role in the 1980 film Solo Sunny. From 1985, she worked in West Berlin and was known for roles in TV series such as Tatort and Einmal Bulle, immer Bulle.

<i>Sheer Madness</i> 1983 film

Sheer Madness is a 1983 German arthouse drama film directed by Margarethe von Trotta. It was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Auschwitz</i> (film) 2011 film

Auschwitz is a 2011 German drama film directed by Uwe Boll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41st Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with Uranus by Claude Berri. The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film La casa del sorriso directed by Marco Ferreri. The retrospective dedicated to Cold War films was shown at the festival.

<i>Stips</i> 1951 film

Stips is a 1951 West German romantic comedy film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Heli Finkenzeller and Eva Ingeborg Scholz. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in West Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Hans Luigi.

<i>Three Girls Spinning</i> 1950 film

Three Girls Spinning is a 1950 West German comedy film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Albrecht Schoenhals, Adelheid Seeck and Axel von Ambesser. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Erich Kettelhut.

<i>System Crasher</i> 2019 German film

System Crasher is a 2019 German drama film directed by Nora Fingscheidt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Herbrich</span> German director

Oliver Herbrich is a German filmmaker working as an author, film director and producer. He is associated with the very end of the New German Cinema movement. From 2016 to 2018, his films were digitally remastered and re-released in the Fiction – Non-Fiction Film Edition. In 2018, the Film Museum Düsseldorf added all archival documents to its collection.

<i>Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert</i> 2023 film by Margarethe von Trotta

Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert is a 2023 European co-production biopic-drama film directed by Margarethe von Trotta and stars Vicky Krieps in the titular role. The film depicts the life of Austrian poet and author Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973).

References

  1. Genealogy
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 The Berlinale, Berlin’s International Film Festival, german-way.com, retrieved 24/7/2016
  3. 1 2 Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (11 February 2010). "60 Years of Berlinale: A Film Festival of Propaganda, Stars and Scandal". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2016-07-24.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Wong, Cindy H. (2011-01-01). Film Festivals: Culture, People, and Power on the Global Screen. Rutgers University Press. ISBN   9780813551210.
  5. Berlin International Film Festival, Encyclopædia Britannica, retrieved 24/7/2016
  6. filmportal.de is a free-of-charge internet platform for reliable, in-depth information on German cinema Filmportal
  7. filmarchives online provides free and easy access to moving image collections of film archives from all over Europe Filmarchives online
  8. Renate Barken was an artist name. Born as Ilse Ingeborg Ferfert, married as Ingeborg Martay,
  9. Rengha Rodewill (Photographer): Grave Oscar and Ingeborg Martay