Born in Lodz, Poland, Artur Brauner was a student at a local polytechnic when Germany invaded in 1939. He and his family fled together to the Soviet Union, but while they chose to move to Israel in 1946, he opted to make Berlin his new home. There he set up Central Cinema Company, one of the first film studios in post-Nazi Germany, and employed many Jewish filmmakers and actors who had fled the country in the 1930s. The likes of Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak were among his most illustrious signings. An early adopter of the “one for me, one for Hollywood” approach, Brauner produced commercial, critically derided movies for profit that were balanced with some of the most thoughtful filmic depictions ot the Holocaust. Die Weiße Rose, The Plot to Assassinate Hitler and Man and Beast were among his finest hours.
Artur Brauner
1 August 1918 − 7 July 2019
Died aged 100 (unique hit)