Zagreb-born artist Vlado Kristl (19232004) was one of the most radical artists and filmmakers in West- Germany. This two-disc set represents a re-discovery of his work. It comprises short films from the 1960s, Vlado Kristl's second feature-length film Der Brief (The Letter) and the independently produced Obrigkeitsfilm (Film on Authority) with appearances by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet. The ROM section features texts, scripts, screenplays and drawings by Kristl.
The films
Arme Leute - 1963 - Directed and written by: Vlado Kristl - Cinematography by: Wolf Wirth - Music by: Hans Posegga - Cast: Vlado Kristl, Udo Lehmann, Christian Doermer, Wolf Wirth, Peter Schamoni - Produced by: Peter Schamoni Filmproduktion
Autorennen - 1965 - Directed and written by: Vlado Kristl - Cinematography by: Wolf Wirth - Cast: Carl Walter, Miroslav Spanic, Marly Hass, Vlado Kristl - Produced by: Houwer-Film
Der Brief - 1965 - Directed, written and produced by: Vlado Kristl - Cinematography by: Wolf Wirth - Music by: Gerhard Bommersheim - Cast: Vlado Kristl, Mechthild Engel, Horst-Manfred Adloff, Peter Berling, Otmar Engel, Walter Krüttner, Klaus Lemke, George Moorse, Christian Rischert, Peter Schamoni, Thomas Schamoni, Ulrich Schamoni, Victor Schamoni, Eckhart Schmidt
Die Utopen - 1967 - Directed and written by: Vlado Kristl - Cinematography by: Pit-Jörg Brockner - Music by: Josef Anton Riedl - Produced by: Lux-Film Boris Borresholm
100 Blatt Schreibblock - 1968 - Directed, written, photographed and produced by: Vlado Kristl - Music by: Josef Anton Riedel - Cast: Helmut Rings, Erika Rings, Susanne Spielvogel, Heint Wittler, Karin Bott-Bodenhausen
Sekundenfilme - 1969 - Directed, written and produced by: Vlado Kristl - Cinematography by: Manfred Feichtner - Cast: Rolf Schwendter
Obrigkeitsfilm - 1971 - Directed, written, photographed and produced by: Vlado Kristl - Music by: Hjalmar-Maximilian Pretorius - Darsteller: Dagmar Silaff, Dierk Flammer, Bennie Yaboh, Eva Ericson, Tilman Rothermel, Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
Neuer Deutscher Film Report - 1967 - Directed, written and photographed by: Ferry Radax - With: Vlado Kristl, Peter Schamoni, Peter Genée, Werner Herzog, Volker Schlöndorff, George Moorse - Produced by: WDS-Film Helmut Pfandler
About Der Brief
"If a person makes something that distributors and producers like, then they both are sickening: the one who made it and the one who likes it. That's why I said that if these distributors, these industry people, like something of mine, then I really need to ask: "Is it possible I've done something I should be ashamed of?" It's not that I am anti-industry, but the situation needs to be considered differently. As you know, the whole problem has now been transferred to production and distribution. Once there's money, everything follows the standard, stagnant procedure and the distributor can't be receptive to an innovative film. The tragedy is that now there are directors producing their own films who, as directors, talk themselves into not offering opposition to the producers, i.e., themselves, but into coming to an agreement with them. They never agree! As producers, they come to an agreement with themselves and persuade themselves to be lenient with themselves as producers and think about the future. I hear people say: "Well, I have to make my first film this way to make money, and then I can do what I want!" They're already ruined. As soon as they say that sentence, it's over. No one needs them anymore. At that moment, they've invalidated themselves. Absolutely no one in Germany, in the world, needs them anymore. They should do something useful instead, like carpentry or whatever. In the film industry, they're just stones for others to trip over.
Vlado Kristl interviewd by Ulrich Gregor, Erika Gregor nd Gero Gandert in 1966
DVD features (2-disc DVD)
DVD 1
- Arme Leute 1963, 8'
- Autorennen 1965, 10'
- Die Utopen 1967, 9'
- Der Brief 1965, 79'
- Neuer Deutscher Film Report 1967, 48'
- Documents and scripts as ROM features
DVD 2
- 100 Jahre Schreibblock 1968, 23'
- Sekundenfilme 1969, 18'
- Obrigkeitsfilm 1971, 90'
- 20-page trilingual booklet with a long interview with Vlado Kristl
Edited by: Filmmuseum München and Goethe-Institut Munich
DVD authoring: Tobias Dressel
DVD supervision: Klaus Volkmer, Stefan Drössler
First edition August 2015
