Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of Franz Osten


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Timestamp:
Jun 28, 2012, 4:01:53 PM (12 years ago)
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Trupti
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  • Franz Osten

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     1'''Franz Osten (1876-1956)''' 
     2 
     3 
     4Hindi director born in Munich as Franz 
     5Ostermayer, the elder brother of successful 
     6producer Peter Ostermayer. They set up a 
     7travelling cinema, Original Physograph (1907) 
     8and founded Munchner Kunstfilm (1909) after 
     9Osten had been making shorts for Pathé, 
     10Gaumont and Eclair. Their first feature: Die 
     11Wahrheit (1910). Osten’s début as director: 
     12Erna Valeska (1911). War correspondent in 
     131915. Joined Peter’s company Emelka (later 
     14Bavaria Film) in 1918. Made Der Ochsenkrieg 
     15(1920) with young cameraman Frank Planer of 
     16later Hollywood fame, one of Osten’s several 
     17contributions to a budding genre that after 
     18WW2 became known as the Heimatfilm. In 
     19fact, the Ostermayr/Osten brothers claimed to 
     20be the originators of the genre. When 
     21Himansu Rai and Emelka made a deal to 
     22produce Prem Sanyas aka Light of Asia, 
     23Osten was assigned to direct. Continued 
     24directing Rai’s productions, often shooting in 
     25India as well as in Europe, in addition to 
     26directing for numerous companies in Berlin. 
     27Moved with cameraman Josef Wirsching and 
     28set designer Karl von Spreti to India to work 
     29at Himansu Rai’s Bombay Talkies (1934). 
     30While in Bombay, became a member of the 
     31Nazi Party (1936). Interned by the British at 
     32the outbreak of WW2 while shooting his last 
     33film there, Kangan. Released and allowed to 
     34return to Germany (1940). Employed by 
     35Bavaria Film until 1945, for casting and setting 
     36up its film archive. In addition to Indian films, 
     37directed 33 silent features and 10 sound films. 
     38After WW2 became manager of a Bavarian 
     39spa. His Indian films, following UFA tradition, 
     40were huge Orientalist spectacles with 
     41elephants, camels and expansive vistas often 
     42shot in deep focus. Effective authorship 
     43shared by producer Rai and scenarist 
     44Niranjan Pal. Adopted European conventions 
     45to introduce main actors, e.g. backlit mid-shots 
     46in soft focus gradually becoming more 
     47contrasted; also used mobile outdoor shots as 
     48in the railway-crossing sequence of Achhut 
     49Kanya. Strongly influenced younger Bombay 
     50Talkies film-makers Amiya Chakravarty and 
     51Gyan Mukherjee, though they used his 
     52techniques for very different purposes. 
     53 
     54 
     55'''FILMOGRAPHY''' (Indian films): 1925: Prem 
     56Sanyas; 1928: Shiraz; 1929: Prapancha 
     57Pash (all St); 1935: Jawani Ki Hawa; 1936: 
     58Achhut Kanya; Janmabhoomi; Jeevan 
     59Naiya; Mamata; Miya Bibi; 1937: Izzat; 
     60Jeevan Prabhat; Prem Kahani; Savitri; 
     611938: Bhabhi; Nirmala; Vachan; 1939: 
     62Navjeevan; Durga; Kangan. 
     63 
     64[[Director]]