Konrad Wolf

Konrad Wolf
Born	(1925-10-20)20 October 1925 Hechingen, Germany
Died	7 March 1982(1982-03-07) (aged 56) East Berlin, Germany
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1954-1982
Spouse	Christel Bodenstein ​ ​ (1960⁠–⁠1978)​

Konrad Wolf addressing NVA soldiers in 1981, under the motto Kunst ist Waffe ("art is weapon", a quote from his father Friedrich Wolf).

Grave in Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde.

Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf.

Biography

He and his family left Germany for Moscow when the Nazis took power in 1933, where Wolf came into intense contact with Soviet film. At age 10, he played a minor role in the film Kämpfer, filmed among the German Communist emigrants in Moscow. He and his brother attended the Karl Liebknecht School in Moscow. At age 17 he joined the Red Army and in 1945, he was among the first troops to reach Berlin. He remained in the Soviet Army until 1948. He later described these events in the 1968 film, Ich war neunzehn (I Was Nineteen).

Shortly after the war, Wolf returned to Moscow, where he studied at VGIK. His 1959 film Sterne (German: Stars) won the Special Jury Prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. In 1961, his film Professor Mamlock was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Golden Prize. His 1971 film Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Special Prize.

He worked afterwards as a film director at DEFA. He was the President of the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin from 1965 until his death in 1982.

In 1978, he was a member of the jury at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1980, his film Solo Sunny was entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival.

He was married to the actress Christel Bodenstein from 1960 to 1978.

Films

• 1955: Once Is Never
• 1956: Genesung
• 1957: Lissy
• 1958/1972: Sun Seekers
• 1959: Stars
• 1960: Leute mit Flügeln
• 1961: Professor Mamlock
• 1964: Divided Heaven
• 1966: The Little Prince (TV film)
• 1968: I Was Nineteen
• 1971: Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment
• 1974: Der nackte Mann auf dem Sportplatz
• 1976: Mama, I'm Alive
• 1979: Solo Sunny (co-director: Wolfgang Kohlhaase)
• 1981/1982: Busch singt (6-part documentary about Ernst Busch, completed by others)

See also

• Konrad Wolf Prize

External links

• Konrad Wolf at IMDb