Babelsberg Studios
Encyclopedia
The Studio Babelsberg, located in Potsdam
-Babelsberg
, Germany
, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1912, it covers an area of about 25000 square metres (269,097.8 sq ft). Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang
's Metropolis
and Josef von Sternberg
's The Blue Angel were filmed there. In 2012 Studio Babelsberg will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Today, Studio Babelsberg remains operational mainly for feature film productions. Furthermore, it acts as co-producer on international high budget productions.
's Decla-Film GmbH into „Decla Bioscop“. In 1921, Decla Bioscop passed into Universum Film AG
(Ufa) which had been founded in 1917. This company built the large studio (which is now known as the "Marlene Dietrich Halle") in 1926 for the major film production of Metropolis by Fritz Lang
. The first German sound stage in Babelsberg, the Tonkreuz, was built during 1929. Melodie des Herzens/Melody of the Heart with Willy Fritsch
was the first German full-sound film. This was followed in 1930 by the premiere of The Blue Angel
by Josef von Sternberg
with Marlene Dietrich
and Emil Jannings
in the main roles.
From 1933 to 1945, around 1,000 feature films were made in the studios and on the studio lot. Under the direction of Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels
, the studio churned out hundreds of films including Leni Riefenstahl
's openly propagandistic Triumph of the Will
. The virally anti-Semitic propaganda film Jud Süss
(The Jew Süss), shot in 1940, was also made at Babelsberg.
On May 17, 1946, the DEFA - Deutsche Film AG - was established. It produced over 800 feature films, including 150 children's films. In addition, over 600 films were made for television from 1959 to 1990. The DEFA period was honored by a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA
) in New York
in 2005.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall
, the Treuhand
took over the responsibility for the privatisation of the former DEFA. In August 1992, the Treuhandanstalt sold the former DEFA film studios in Babelsberg to the French group Compagnie Générale des Eaux (later absorbed into Vivendi Universal). Over the following 12 years the company invested around €500 million updating the studio's infrastructure.
In July 2004, Vivendi sold Studio Babelsberg to the investment company FBB (Filmbetriebe Berlin Brandenburg GmbH), which has Carl Woebcken
and Christoph Fisser
as shareholders. In Spring of 2005, the restructured studio presented an initial public offering and began trading on the free market.
2007 was the most profitable year since the Studio's privatization in 1992 - 12 feature films were shot at Studio Babelsberg, among them Valkyrie
with Tom Cruise
, The International
with Clive Owen
, and The Reader with Kate Winslet
.
In 2008 Studio Babelsberg and Hollywood producer Joel Silver
formed a strategic alliance to produce feature films from the Dark Castle production slate at the world’s oldest film studio.
Recent co-productions of Studio Babelsberg include Quentin Tarantino
's Inglourious Basterds (released 2009) and Roman Polanski
's The Ghost Writer (2010).
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
-Babelsberg
Potsdam-Babelsberg
Babelsberg is the largest district of the Brandenburg capital Potsdam in Germany. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as for Studio...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1912, it covers an area of about 25000 square metres (269,097.8 sq ft). Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's Metropolis
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
and Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
's The Blue Angel were filmed there. In 2012 Studio Babelsberg will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Today, Studio Babelsberg remains operational mainly for feature film productions. Furthermore, it acts as co-producer on international high budget productions.
History
In 1911, the company Bioscop built its first glass–film studio in Neubabelsberg. The first filming began as early as February 1912 for The Dance of the Dead by Danish director Urban Gad. In 1922 the Deutsche Bioscop Gesellschaft merged with Erich PommerErich Pommer
Erich Pommer was a German-born film producer and executive. He was involved in the German Expressionist film movement during the silent era as the head of production at Decla, Decla-Bioscop and from 1924 to 1926 at Ufa responsible for many of the best known movies of the Weimar Republic such as...
's Decla-Film GmbH into „Decla Bioscop“. In 1921, Decla Bioscop passed into Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG
Universum Film AG, better known as UFA or Ufa, is a film company that was the principal film studio in Germany, home of the German film industry during the Weimar Republic and through World War II, and a major force in world cinema from 1917 to 1945...
(Ufa) which had been founded in 1917. This company built the large studio (which is now known as the "Marlene Dietrich Halle") in 1926 for the major film production of Metropolis by Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
. The first German sound stage in Babelsberg, the Tonkreuz, was built during 1929. Melodie des Herzens/Melody of the Heart with Willy Fritsch
Willy Fritsch
Willy Fritsch was a German theater and film actor, the popular leading man in German silent motion-pictures.-Biography:...
was the first German full-sound film. This was followed in 1930 by the premiere of The Blue Angel
Der blaue Engel
The Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
by Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austrian-American film director. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich.-Youth:Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish...
with Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
in the main roles.
From 1933 to 1945, around 1,000 feature films were made in the studios and on the studio lot. Under the direction of Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, the studio churned out hundreds of films including Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
's openly propagandistic Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will
Triumph of the Will is a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of...
. The virally anti-Semitic propaganda film Jud Süss
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
(The Jew Süss), shot in 1940, was also made at Babelsberg.
On May 17, 1946, the DEFA - Deutsche Film AG - was established. It produced over 800 feature films, including 150 children's films. In addition, over 600 films were made for television from 1959 to 1990. The DEFA period was honored by a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
) in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 2005.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
, the Treuhand
Treuhand
The Treuhandanstalt was the agency that privatized the East German enterprises, Volkseigener Betrieb , owned as public property. Created by the Volkskammer on June 17, 1990, it oversaw the restructuring and selling of about 8,500 firms with initially over 4 million employees...
took over the responsibility for the privatisation of the former DEFA. In August 1992, the Treuhandanstalt sold the former DEFA film studios in Babelsberg to the French group Compagnie Générale des Eaux (later absorbed into Vivendi Universal). Over the following 12 years the company invested around €500 million updating the studio's infrastructure.
In July 2004, Vivendi sold Studio Babelsberg to the investment company FBB (Filmbetriebe Berlin Brandenburg GmbH), which has Carl Woebcken
Carl Woebcken
Carl "Charlie" Woebcken, born in 1956, is a German film producer and President/CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG and Managing Director of the production service subsidiary Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures as well as Babelsberg Film.- Biography :...
and Christoph Fisser
Christoph Fisser
Christoph Fisser, born in 1960, is a German film producer and Vice-President/COO of Studio Babelsberg AG. Christoph Fisser acquired Studio Babelsberg together with his business associate and present CEO Charlie Woebcken in July 2004 from the French media group Vivendi...
as shareholders. In Spring of 2005, the restructured studio presented an initial public offering and began trading on the free market.
2007 was the most profitable year since the Studio's privatization in 1992 - 12 feature films were shot at Studio Babelsberg, among them Valkyrie
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
with Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, The International
The International
The International may refer to:*The International , a 2009 film starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts*The International , a video game tournament for Dota 2...
with Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
, and The Reader with Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
.
In 2008 Studio Babelsberg and Hollywood producer Joel Silver
Joel Silver
Joel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, co-creator of the sport of Ultimate, co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment and owner of Silver Pictures.-Life and career:...
formed a strategic alliance to produce feature films from the Dark Castle production slate at the world’s oldest film studio.
Recent co-productions of Studio Babelsberg include Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's Inglourious Basterds (released 2009) and Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's The Ghost Writer (2010).
Notable films shot at Babelsberg Studios
- The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
(1920) - Metropolis (1927)
- Der Blaue EngelDer blaue EngelThe Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
(1930) - La Habanera (1936)
- Jud Süss (1936)
- Das Beil von WandsbekThe Axe of Wandsbek (1951 film)The Axe of Wandsbek is an 1951 East German film, directed by Falk Harnack.-Plot:1934, Hamburg. Adolf Hitler is about to visit the city. Hamburg's executioner falls ill, and is unable to deliver the sentence of four communists who are awaiting capital punishment in jail...
(1951) - Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck (1953)
- SonnensucherSun SeekersSun Seekers is an East German film, directed by Konrad Wolf during 1958. It was banned and subsequently released only in 1972.-Plot:...
(1958) - SterneStars (film)Stars is a 1959 film directed by Konrad Wolf. It tells the story of a Nazi officer who falls in love with a Greek Jewish girl while escorting Jewish prisoners through Bulgaria to a concentration camp. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Sasha Krusharska -...
(1959) - Karbid und Sauerampfer (1963)
- Nackt unter WölfenNaked Among Wolves (film)Naked Among Wolves is a 1963 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Erwin Geschonneck and Armin Mueller-Stahl. The film is based on the 1958 novel, also titled Naked Among Wolves, by Bruno Apitz.-Plot:...
(1963) - Der geteilte Himmel (1964)
- Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt (1965)
- Spur der Steine (1966)
- Ich war neunzehnI Was NineteenI Was Nineteen is a Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft production that tells the story of a young German, Gregor Hecker , who fled the Nazis with his parents to Moscow and now, in early 1945, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army...
(1968) - Goya – oder der arge Weg der Erkenntnis (1971)
- Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973)
- Jakob der LügnerJakob the LiarJakob the Liar is a 1999 American tragicomedy film directed by Peter Kassovitz and starring Robin Williams, Alan Arkin, Liev Schreiber, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, and Bob Balaban. The movie is set in 1944 in a ghetto in German-occupied Poland in the times of the Holocaust and is based on the book by...
(1975) - Der nackte Mann auf dem Sportplatz (1974)
- Sieben Sommersprossen (1978)
- Solo SunnySolo SunnySolo Sunny is a 1980 East German drama film directed by Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase. It was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival, where Renate Krößner won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Cast:* Renate Krößner - Sunny...
(1980) - Der Aufenthalt (1982)
- SonnenalleeSonnenalleeSonnenallee is a 1999 comedy film about life in East Berlin in the late 1970s. The movie was directed by Leander Haußmann. The film was released shortly before the corresponding novel, Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee...
(1999) - The PianistThe Pianist (2002 film)The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
(2002) - Around the World in 80 DaysAround the World in 80 Days (2004 film)Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 American comedy adventure film based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It stars Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. The film is set in 19th-century Britain and centers on Phileas Fogg , here reimagined as an eccentric inventor, and his...
(2004) - The Bourne SupremacyThe Bourne Supremacy (film)The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 American spy film very loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. The film was directed by Paul Greengrass, written by Tony Gilroy and Brian Helgeland, and produced by Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley. Universal Pictures released the film to theaters in...
(2004) - The Constant GardenerThe Constant Gardener (film)The Constant Gardener is a 2005 drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on the John le Carré novel of the same name. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, a man who seeks to find the motivating forces behind his wife's murder.The film stars Ralph Fiennes,...
(2005) - V for VendettaV for Vendetta (film)V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
(2005) - FlightplanFlightplanFlightplan is a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, and Sean Bean. It was released in North America on September 23, 2005...
(2005) - Black BookBlack BookThe Black Book: The Ruthless Murder of Jews by German-Fascist Invaders Throughout the Temporarily-Occupied Regions of the Soviet Union and in the Death Camps of Poland during the War 1941–1945 alternatively The Black Book of the Holocaust, or simply The Black Book, was a result of the...
(2006) - The Bourne UltimatumThe Bourne Ultimatum (film)The Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 American spy film directed by Paul Greengrass and loosely based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same title. This film is the third in the Bourne film series, being preceded by The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy...
(2007) - ValkyrieValkyrie (film)Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
(2008) - Speed RacerSpeed Racer (film)Speed Racer is a 2008 American live action film adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The film is written and directed by the Wachowskis...
(2008) - The Reader (2008)
- Flame & CitronFlame & CitronFlame & Citron is a 2008 Danish drama/action co-written and directed by Ole Christian Madsen. The film, a fictionalized account based on fact, is about two Danish resistance movement fighters during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.- Plot :...
(2008) - The InternationalThe International (film)The International is a 2009 thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer. The film follows an Interpol agent and an American attorney who investigate corruption within the IBBC, a fictional merchant bank based in Luxembourg. It serves organized crime and corrupt governments as a banker and as an arms...
(2008) - Inglourious Basterds (2009)
- Ninja AssassinNinja AssassinNinja Assassin is a 2009 American martial arts film directed by James McTeigue. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay penned by J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5. The film stars South Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his...
(2009) - PandorumPandorumPandorum is a 2009 German-British science fiction thriller film written by Travis Milloy, directed by Christian Alvart and produced by Paul W.S. Anderson. The film stars Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. Filming began in Berlin in August 2008. Pandorum was released on September 25, 2009 in the United...
(2009) - The Ghost Writer (2010)
- HannaHanna (film)Hanna is a 2011 European-American action thriller film directed by Joe Wright. The film stars actress Saoirse Ronan as the title character with Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett...
(2011) - G.I. Joe: RetaliationG.I. Joe: RetaliationG.I. Joe: Retaliation is an upcoming science fiction action film directed by Jon Chu. It is a sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.-Plot:...
(2012)