Schreiber, Eduard

In Zeitzeugengespräch: Eduard Schreiber © DEFA-Stiftung
Biography:
Eduard Schreiber was born in Obernitz, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) on May 21, 1939. He studied journalism and literature in Leipzig at the Institut für Literarische Publizistik from 1960 to 1964, and then worked as an academic assistant at the institute, where he met the literary scholar Hans Meyer, Romance language scholar Werner Krauss, and author Werner Bräuning.
In 1970, Schreiber joined the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films, where he worked as a scriptwriter and, as of 1972, as a director. He collaborated on various films with director Ulrich Weiss and director of photography Thomas Plenert.
Many of Schreiber’s films reflect his interest in literature and art, including: Leningrad – Stadt meiner Dichtung, about Russian authors; Hermann Hesse 1877-1977, about the poet and novelist; Radnóti, about the Hungarian Jewish poet Miklós Radnóti; Wissen Sie nicht, wo Herr Kisch ist?, about Egon Erwin Kisch, one of the most outstanding journalists of the twentieth century; and Rausch, Klang, Ekstase – Die Künstlergruppe Brücke 1905-1913, about the group of expressionist artists in Dresden.
Using montage, sound and image, Schreiber has developed his own film language and aesthetic. Often in stark contrast to the heroic tradition of East German documentary filmmaking, Schreiber’s films contain important themes based on his own research into social issues and the daily life of marginal groups. Examples range from his filmic essay about the stationing of missiles in Europe, The Time is Now – Jetzt ist die Zeit, to his poetic short film Östliche Landschaft and his long-term documentary project on Soviet troops pulling out of East Germany, Lange nach der Schlacht.
Since 1991, Eduard Schreiber has worked as a freelance director and author. He is the author of articles on film history and theory, and film and literary criticism, and has also worked as a translator.
Filmography:
2007 | Was ich am besten kann, ist Schweigen (Being Silent Is What I Do Best, doc.) |
2005 | Rausch, Klang, Ekstase – Die Künstlergruppe Brücke 1905-1913 (Intoxication, Sound, Ecstasy – The Brücke Artists’ Group 1905-1913, doc., TV) |
2004 | Lange nach der Schlacht. Teil 1: Der Abzug. (Long after the Battle. Part 1: The Withdrawal, doc., TV) |
2004 | Lange nach der Schlacht. Teil 2: Im Niemandsland. (Long after the Battle. Part 2: In No Man’s Land, doc., TV) |
2000 | Trotzkis Traum. Psychoanalyse im Lande der Bolschewiki (Trotsky's Dream: Psychoanalysis in the Land of the Bolsheviks, doc., TV) |
2000 | ZONE M (doc.) |
1997 | Reise ohne Wiederkehr. Philipp Tolziner – Bauhausarchitekt (Journey without Return: Philipp Tolziner, Bauhaus Architect, doc.) |
1995 | Lange nach der Schlacht (Long after the Battle, doc.) |
1992 | Die Angst und die Macht – Die Tribüne (Fear and Power: The Tribune, doc.) |
1991 | Östliche Landschaft (Eastern Landscape, doc.) |
1990 | Ich war ein glücklicher Mensch (I Was a Happy Person, doc.) |
1989 | Spuren (Traces, doc.) |
1988 | Rückfällig (Relapse, doc.) |
1987 | The Time Is Now – Jetzt ist die Zeit (doc.) |
1985 | Wissen Sie nicht, wo Herr Kisch ist? (Do You Know Where Herr Kisch Is?, doc.) |
1984 | Radnóti |
1983 | Abhängig (Addicted) |
1982 |
Ein Bauer und seine Frau (A Farmer and His Wife, doc.) |
1980 |
Erinnerungen an Häuser (Memories of Houses, doc., TV) |
1980 | Wieland Förster – Dezember 79 (Wieland Förster: December ’79, doc., TV) |
1979 |
Das wechselvolle Leben des deutschen Malers und Glücksuchenden Heinrich Vogeler (Heinrich Vogeler: The Varied Life of a German Painter and Fortune-Seeker, doc., TV) |
1977 | Hermann Hesse 1877-1977 (doc., TV) |
1973 | Leningrad – Stadt meiner Dichtung (Leningrad - City of My Writing, doc., TV) |
1972 |
Zum achtenmal (The Eighth Time, script, doc., TV) |
1972 | Deutsch, deutscher, bundesdeutsch (German, More German, West German, doc.) |
1971 |
Montage adé… (script, doc., TV) |