Slatan Dudow

Slatan Dudow was a Bulgarian born film director who worked in Weimar Germany and later East Germany Influenced by revolutionary ideas Dudow moved to Berlin in 1922 He gave up his plan to study architecture and studied theater from 1925 to 1926 He worked with Leopold Jessner and Juergen Fehling and was a chorus member under Erwin Piscator But it was a trip to Moscow where he met Majakowski and Eisenstein that proved to be the most influential for his career After his return from Moscow Dudow directed Brechts theater piece Die Massnahme while beginning his film career He was commissioned to produce the film Wie der Berliner Arbeiter wohnt 1929 as part of the documentary series Wie lebt der Berliner Arbeiter To Whom Does the World Belong 1932 was originally banned because it was perceived as an insult to the Weimar Republics president judiciary and religion Dudow was arrested several times by the Nazis after 1933 he was imprisoned in 1939 but soon escaped to France and then Switzerland In 1946 he returned to Berlin and worked as a director at the DEFA studios