UFA GmbH, shortened to UFA, is a film and television production company that unites all production activities of the media conglomerate Bertelsmann in Germany. The original UFA was established as Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft on December 18, 1917, as a direct response to foreign competition in film and propaganda. UFA was founded by a consortium headed by Emil Georg von Stauß, a former Deutsche Bank board member. In March 1927, Alfred Hugenberg, an influential German media entrepreneur and later Minister of the Economy and Minister of Agriculture and Nutrition in Adolf Hitler's cabinet, purchased UFA and transferred ownership of it to the Nazi Party in 1933.
The Tri-Ergon sound-on-film system was developed from around 1919 by three German inventors, Josef Engl (1893–1942), Joseph Massolle (1889–1957), and Hans Vogt (1890–1979).
Die Deutsche Wochenschau was the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II. The coordinated newsreel production was set up as a vital instrument for the mass distribution of Nazi propaganda at war. Today the preserved Wochenschau short films make up a significant part of the audiovisual records of the Nazi era.
Terra Film was a Berlin-based film production company. Founded in 1919, it became one of Germany's largest film production companies in the 1930s under the Nazi regime.
The Mistress is a 1927 German silent drama film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Edda Croy, Harry Liedtke and Eugen Burg. It was based on a play by Alexander Brody. It was the first film Wiene made after returning to Germany after two years working in Austria, although the film's location shooting was done in Vienna, where the story is set. The interiors were shot at the Marienfelde Studios of Terra Film in Berlin.
Folly of Love is a 1928 German silent comedy film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Maria Jacobini, Jack Trevor and Betty Astor. While several of Wiene's previous films had met with mixed responses, Folly of Love was universally praised by critics. The film was made at the Marienfelde Studios of Terra Film. It was Wiene's last silent film. His next work was the 1930 sound film The Other.
Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film.
Melody of the Heart is a 1929 German musical film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Dita Parlo, Willy Fritsch and Gerő Mály.
Typhoon is a 1933 German drama film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Liane Haid, Viktor de Kowa and Valéry Inkijinoff. It was based on the 1911 play Typhoon by the Hungarian writer Melchior Lengyel. It was the last German film made by Wiene, who had been a leading director of German silent cinema.
Tobis Film was a German film production and film distribution company. Founded in the late 1920s as a merger of several companies involved in the switch from silent to sound films, the organisation emerged as a leading German sound studio. Tobis used the Tri-Ergon sound-on-film system under the Tobis-Klang trade name. The UFA production company had separate rights to the Tobis system, which it used under the trade name of Ufa-Klang. Some Tobis films were released in Germany by the subsidiary Europa Film.
Staaken Studios was a film studio located in Staaken on the outskirts of the German capital Berlin. A large former zeppelin hangar, it was converted to film use following the First World War and operated during the Weimar Republic. In July 1923 it was the largest studio in the world, with floor space of around 18,000 square feet. It was used for the construction of massive sets on a series of major productions of the silent era, including I.N.R.I., Metropolis, The Holy Mountain and The Ship of Lost Souls. These epics were a part of the German attempt on world markets during the decade. The 1927 Anglo-German co-production The Ghost Train was shot at Staaken.
National Film or National-Film was a German film production and distribution company which operated during the silent and early sound era. In the early 1920s it made an attempt to take over Erich Pommer's Decla-Bioscop, but the projected merger failed and Decla instead joined with the major studio UFA. While Decla was generally in favour of joining with National, it was pressured by its creditors Deutsche Bank to merge with UFA.
Aafa Film or Aafa-Film was a German film production and distribution company which operated during the 1920s and 1930s. Established in 1920 as Radio-Film the company was controlled by the producer Gabriel Levy and the director Rudolf Dworsky. The company was one of the leading producers of the Weimar Republic, and survived the transition from silent to sound film in 1929. It made the first German full sound film It's You I Have Loved that year. During the early 1930s Aafa produced a number of mountain films directed by Arnold Fanck. It also made a multi-language version musical Lieutenant, Were You Once a Hussar? (1930).
The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial backing from the French company Pathé. The producer Paul Davidson's PAGU then took control and constructed a grander structure. The First World War propaganda drama The Yellow Passport, the historical comedy Madame DuBarry and the expressionist 1920 silent film The Golem were made there by PAGU.
The Althoff Studios were film studios located in Potsdam outside the German capital Berlin.
The Weissensee Studios was a collection of separate film production studios located in the Berlin suburb of Weißensee during the silent era.
The Johannisthal Studios were film studios located in the Berlin area of Johannisthal. Founded in 1920 on the site of a former airfield, they were a centre of production during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Nearly four hundred films were made at Johannistal during the silent period. The first production was the 1920 silent Verkommen starring Maria Zelenka. Sometimes known as the Jofa Studios, in 1929 they became the base of the newly established German major studio Tobis Film at the beginning of the sound era.
Eiko Film was a German film production company of the silent era. It was established in 1912 by the producer Franz Vogel and swiftly became one of Germany's more important companies. Having initially produced its films at the Rex Film studios in Berlin, the company moved to construct the Marienfelde Studios in the suburb of that name. A glasshouse studio, it was part of Germany's growing film infrastructure. During the First World War era, when foreign imports were largely excluded from the German market, the company enjoyed success with its productions. In 1922, the company and its Marienfelde Studios were acquired by Terra Film, although the name Eiko was used by productions released by the rival National Film until later in the decade.
