Reichsfilmdramaturg

With the film law dated from 16 February 1934, the position of a Reichsfilmdramaturg (the Reich's dramatic adviser for films) was attached to the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. His task was to pre-check all planned film productions.^[1]

Contrary to the Film Review Office, which censored films already produced, the Reichsfilmdramaturg should prevent that inappropriate films being produced. It was therefore only possible to start the shooting of a film after the film's plot, manuscript and screenplay were approved by him.

The film industry was o.k. with the pre-check, as it prevented commercial damages through later censorship. The pre-check also allowed to get a cheap credit from the Filmkreditbank. This bank was set up to help financing films.^[2]

The following persons were Reichsfilmdramaturg^[3][4][5]:

• Willi Krause (kown as Peter Hagen as writer), since February 1934
• Hans-Jürgen Nierentz (1936–37)
• Fritz Hippler
• Kurt Frowein
• Ewald von Demandowsky

References

1. ^ SWR 2 ZEITWORT , 01.02.1933: Goebbels beruft seinen Reichsfilmdramaturgen, http://swr.de, 2010-02-01.
2. ^ BEI DER UFA MACHTE MAN DAS SO ..., DER SPIEGEL 2/1951.
3. ^ Der Reichsfilmdramaturg abgesetzt, Pariser Tageblatt, Jg. 4. 1936, Nr. 841 (01.04.1936), S. 1, Spalte d.
4. ^ Cinema and the Swastika, The International Expansion of Third Reich Cinema, edited by Roel Vande Winkel, David Welch, ISBN 978 0 230 23857 2.
5. ^ Hier spricht der deutsche Mensch, "Das Leben geht weiter" - Der letzte Durchhaltefilm der Ufa 1944/45 (I) / Von Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, DER SPIEGEL 48/1992.