# Messter Film

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German silent film company

For the Hungarian company, see [Mester Film](/source/Mester_Film).

**Messter Film** was a German [film production](/source/Film_production) company which operated during the [silent era](/source/Silent_era). It was founded by the German film pioneer [Oskar Messter](/source/Oskar_Messter) who already owned a chain of cinemas.[1] It was based in [Berlin](/source/Berlin) which had emerged as the centre of the German film industry. Messter quickly established itself as dominant force in German production, particularly during the boom years of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) when foreign films faced many restrictions in Germany. Messter played a prominent role in the development of the German [feature film](/source/Feature_film), moving away from the [shorter running times](/source/Short_film) which had been standard in the early years of cinema. Messter also produced its own [newsreels](/source/Newsreels).

In 1909 Messter Film took part in the [Paris Film Congress](/source/Paris_Film_Congress), a failed attempt by Europe's leading producers to create a film [cartel](/source/Cartel) similar to that formed by the [MPPC](/source/Motion_Picture_Patents_Company) in the United States.[2]

In 1917 the company became part of the large [conglomerate](/source/Conglomerate_(company)) [Universum Film AG](/source/Universum_Film_AG) (UFA) which brought together many of the leading German companies in a single, powerful organisation. For several years after this Messter continued to produce films as an individual unit of the UFA umbrella. UFA took over Messter's associated [distribution](/source/Film_distributor) partner **Hansa Film**.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Hardt p.12

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Thorsen p.71

## Bibliography

- Bergfelder, Tim & Bock, Hans-Michael. *The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopedia of German*. Berghahn Books, 2009.

- Hardt, Ursula. *From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's Life in the International Film Wars*. Berghahn Books, 1996.

- Thorsen, Isak. *Nordisk Films Kompagni 1906-1924, Volume 5: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Bear*. Indiana University Press, 2017.

- Prawer, S.S. *Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933*. Berghahn Books, 2005.

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