{{short description|Austrian filmmaker and writer|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{BLP primary sources|date=October 2012}} {{Expand German|Ruth Beckermann|topic=bio|date=September 2012}} {{use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}

thumb|Ruth Beckermann in 2025 '''Ruth Beckermann''' (born 1952) is an Austrian filmmaker and writer, who lives and works in Vienna and Paris. Her films have been shown at prestigious festivals, and ''Paper Bridge'' and ''East of War'' won several major awards.

== Early life and education== Ruth Beckermann was born in Vienna, Austria in 1952. Her parents were Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = "E/Motion Pictures": Conversations with Austrian Documentary Filmmakers Mirjam Unger and Ruth Beckermann|last = Baker and Rohrbacher|date = 2009|journal = Women in German Yearbook | volume=25 | pages=234–251 | doi=10.1353/fgs.2009.a363365 }}</ref>

Beckermann studied journalism and art history in Vienna and Tel Aviv, and received her doctorate in 1977. In New York she studied photography at the School of Visual Arts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu |title=School of Visual Arts > Fine Arts and Graphic Design School in New York City |publisher=Schoolofvisualarts.edu |date=2012-08-29 |access-date=2012-09-16}}</ref> During her studies, she contributed as a journalist to several Austrian and Swiss magazines.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.play-doc.com/en/the-waldheim-waltz-by-ruth-beckermann-and-lamaland-by-pablo-sigg-winners-at-14o-play-doc/ | title =The Waldheim Waltz by Ruth Beckermann and Lamaland by Pablo Sigg winners at 14th Play-Doc | date =2018-04-29 | publisher = Play-Doc | access-date =2024-05-01}}</ref>

==Career== Her first film was made in cooperation with Josef Aichholzer and Franz Grafl of the ''Videogroup Arena'' in 1977. Shot on video and 16mm film, ''Arena Besetzt'' (''Arena Squatted'') documented the occupation of the old Viennese slaughterhouse Arena.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=20&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref><ref name="DM">{{cite web |title=Arena besetzt |url=https://www.documentamadrid.com/en/films/arena-besetzt |website=DocumentaMadrid |access-date=2 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The following year, Beckermann founded the film distribution company ''Filmladen'' along with Aichholzer and Grafl, where she continued working until 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Über uns {{!}} Filmladen Filmverleih |url=https://www.filmladen.at/ueber-uns/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1978 and 1981, filmed shot two documentaries, ''Suddenly A Strike''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=21&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |date=1978-11-05 |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref> and ''The Steelhammer Out there on The Grass'' on the topics of labour and strike.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=22&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |date=1981-03-28 |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref>

In 1983, Beckermann released ''Return to Vienna'', which documents the journeys and experiences of Franz West, a Jewish Social Democrat living in Vienna during the First and Second World Wars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=13&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{imdb title|1056240|Return to Vienna}}</ref> The film is the first of a trilogy, in which Beckermann deals with Jewish narratives of loss, memory and identity. Following this film, ''Paper Bridge'' (1987) depicts a journey leading from Vienna to Romania, where Beckermann visits the Bukovina region, the birthplace of her father during a time when this region was still under Habsburg rule.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Ruth Beckermann|url = http://www.ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=17&l=eng|website = www.ruthbeckermann.com|access-date = 2015-10-23}}</ref> In ''Towards Jerusalem'' Beckermann travels between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem while exploring the Zionist utopia of a Jewish homeland.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=17&l=eng|title = Towards Jerusalem|website = ruthbeckermann.com}}</ref> These films - ''Return to Vienna'', ''Paper Bridge'' and ''Towards Jerusalem'' use different forms of travel as both content and formal organising principle.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In 1996, ''East of War''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=16&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref> was made during the so-called Wehrmachtsausstellung. In front of the out-of-focus-photographs, former soldiers of the German Wehrmacht talk about their experiences beyond the "normal" war. A film which not only pushes forward the destruction of the "good-Wehrmacht" myth, but also takes a close look at the process of constructing history in post-World War II Austria.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pick |first=Hella |title=Guilty Victim: Austria from the Holocaust to Haider |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2000 |pages=15}}</ref>

In her 1999 film, ''A Fleeting Passage to The Orient'', she follows the traces of Elisabeth of Bavaria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=15&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref> In 2001, ''homemad(e)'' depicts how the political turn in 2000 was reflected in a Viennese coffee house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=14&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref>

Five years later, she followed four 12-year-olds on their journey to Bar Mitzva.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=12&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/zor.html |title=Zorro's Bar Mitzvah |publisher=Icarusfilms.com |date=2012-07-23 |access-date=2012-09-16}}</ref> was shown in festivals in Paris' (Cinema du Reel,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemadureel.org/article284.html |access-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725171601/http://www.cinemadureel.org/article284.html |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |title=Zorro's Bar Mitswa (Zorros Bar Mizwa) - Cinéma du réel }}</ref>), Vienna (Viennale<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.viennale.at/cgi-bin/viennale/archiv/film.pl?id=2033&lang=en |access-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706095307/http://www.viennale.at/cgi-bin/viennale/archiv/film.pl?id=2033&lang=en |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |title=Filmprogramm &#124; Viennale }}</ref> 06) in Buenos Aires and Chicago, and became a success with audiences.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In 2011, ''American Passages''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=44&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemadureel.org/article4847.html |access-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725171713/http://www.cinemadureel.org/article4847.html |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |title=American Passages - Cinéma du réel }}</ref> premiered in the competition<ref>[http://www.cinemadureel.org/rubrique624.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725171628/http://www.cinemadureel.org/rubrique624.html|date=July 25, 2011}}</ref> at the Cinéma du Réel.<ref>[http://www.cinemadureel.org/index.php?lang=en] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123105255/http://www.cinemadureel.org/index.php?lang=en|date=January 23, 2011}}</ref>

Most of her films – such as, most recently "Wax and Gold" – have premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/de/archiv/jahresarchive/1987/02_programm_1987/02_Programm_1987.html |title=Berlinale: 1987 Programm |publisher=Berlinale.de |access-date=2012-09-16}}</ref> or the Cinéma du Réel in Paris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemadureel.org/article2201.html |access-date=April 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425000555/http://www.cinemadureel.org/article2201.html |archive-date=April 25, 2010 |title=Cinéma du Réel Award Lists since 1979 - Cinéma du réel }}</ref>

A DVD collection of her films was released in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruth Beckermann |url=https://shop.ruthbeckermann.com/product/film-collectors-box |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=shop.ruthbeckermann.com}}</ref>

==Other activities== Beckermann is a founding member of the Austrian Documentary and Filmmakers Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dok.at/ |title=/ Aktuelles |publisher=Dok.at |access-date=2012-10-08}}</ref>

She has authored several books and essays (listed below).{{cn|date=May 2023}}

She taught at the University of Salzburg, the University of Illinois, and at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

== Recognition == Beckermann's films ''Paper Bridge'' and ''East of War'' won several major awards. In addition, she has been awarded the following prizes: * 2000: Manès Sperber Prize for Literature<ref>{{cite web | title=Manès-Sperber-Preis für Literatur | website=Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport | url=https://www.bmkoes.gv.at/Kunst-und-Kultur/preise/manes-sperber-preis-fuer-literatur.html | language=de | access-date=19 May 2023}}</ref> * 2015: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Austrian Decoration for Science and Art)<ref>{{cite web | title=Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Ruth Beckermann | website=BKA Fotoservice | date=9 Oct 2015 | url=https://fotoservice.bundeskanzleramt.at/bka/archiv/archiv_bm_ostermayer/fotos_2015_ostermayer/20151009hbmkreuz/_D7R3071.html | language=de| format=photo | access-date=19 May 2023}}</ref> * 2022: Encounters Award at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival for ''Mutzenbacher''<ref>{{cite web | title=Awards | website= Berlinale | url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/awards-juries/awards.html/y=2022,2023/o=asc/p=1/rp=40 | access-date=19 May 2023}}</ref>

==Filmography== <!---order should be reversed--> * Wax and Gold (2026) * ''Favoriten'' (2024) * ''Mutzenbacher'' (2022) * ''The Waldheim Waltz'' (2018) * ''The Dreamed Ones'' (''Die Geträumten''; 2016), based on correspondence between poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan<ref>{{cite web | last=Oltermann | first=Philip | title=Poets' unlikely love letters are turned into critically acclaimed film | website= The Guardian | date=17 November 2016 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/17/poets-bachmann-celan-love-letters-critically-acclaimed-film-die-getraumten | access-date=16 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{imdb title|5463370|The Dreamed Ones}}</ref> * ''Those Who Go Those Who Stay'' (2013) * ''Jackson/Marker 4AM'' (2012) * ''American Passages'' (2011) * ''Zorros Bar Mizwa'' (2006) * ''Homemad(e)'' (2000) * ''A Fleeting Passage to the Orient'' (''Ein flüchtiger Zug nach dem Orient''; 1999) * ''East of War'' (''Jenseits des Krieges''; 1996) * ''Towards Jerusalem'' (''Nach Jerusalem''; 1991) * ''The Paper Bridge'' (1987) * ''Return to Vienna'' (1983) * ''Arena Squatted'' (1977)

==Books and essays== Beckermann, Ruth (ed.), ''Die Mazzesinsel: Juden in der Wiener Leopoldstadt 1918-1938'' (Vienna & Munich: Löcker Verlag, 1984).

Beckermann, Ruth, “Jean Améry and Austria” (translated by Dagmar C. G. Lorenz), in Lorenz & Gabriele Weinberger (eds.) ''Insiders and Outsiders: Jewish and Gentile Culture in Germany and Austria'', pp. 73-86.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Erdbeeren in Czernowitz”, in Christoph Ransmayr, ed. ''Im blinden Winkel: Nachrichten aus Mitteleuropa'' (Frankfurt-am-Main; Fischer, 1987).

Beckermann, Ruth, “Beyond the Bridges” (translated by Dagmar C. G. Lorenz), in Lorenz & Gabriele Weinberger (eds.), ''Insiders and Outsiders: Jewish and Gentile Culture in Germany and Austria'', pp. 301-7.

Beckermann, Ruth, “East of War: Shooting Journal, October to November 1995”, in Lendl (ed.), ''Film Collection: Texte/Texts/Textes'', pp. 93-103.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Elisabeth – Sisi – Romy Schneider”, in Beckermann & Blümlinger (eds.), ''Ohne Untertitel: Fragmente einer Geschichte des österrechischen Kinos'', pp. 305-21.

Beckermann, Ruth (ed.), ''Jenseits des Krieges: Ehemalige Wehrmachtssoldaten errinern sich'' (Vienna: Döcker, 1998).

Beckermann, Ruth, “We all direct our own memories” (interview with Stefan Grissmemann), in Ruth Beckermann & Stefan Grissemann (eds.), ''europaMemoria'' (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2003).

Beckermann, Ruth, ''Unzugehörig: Österreicher und Juden nach 1945'' (Vienna: Löcker, 2005).

Beckermann, Ruth (ed.), ''Leben! Juden in Wien nach 1945'' (exh. cat.) (Vienna: Mandelbaum Verlag, 2008).

Beckermann, Ruth, “Das Leben packen: zum Fotoarchiv der Margit Dobronyi”, in Beckermann (ed.), ''Leben! Juden in Wien nach 1945'' (exh. cat.) (Vienna: Mandelbaum Verlag, 2008), pp. 7-16.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Interview with Bert Rebhandl”, 9 August 2007, Ruth Beckermann Film Collection DVD box set.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Commentary” to A Fleeting Passage to the Orient, in Lendl (ed.), ''Film Collection: Texte/Texts/Textes'', pp. 104-14.

Beckermann, Ruth, “American Passages: Auszüge aus dem Arbeitsbuch”, in Horwath & Omasta (eds.) ''Ruth Beckermann'', pp. 96-100.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Entretien avec Ruth Beckermann, American Passages”, ''Journal du réel'' #7, 31 March 2011, n.p. 2011), posted at https://www.ruthbeckermann.com/files/uploads/44/03-journaldurelno7.pdf (accessed 27 September 2023).

Beckermann, Ruth, “Growing up Jewish in Austria: A Personal Testimony” (translated by Adrian Sewell) ''Jewish Culture and History'' (2013), Vol. 14 Nos. 2-3, 165-70.

Beckermann, Ruth with Alexander Horwath & Michael Omasta, “Cinema should also be about the before, the after, and everything in between”, in Kondor & Loebenstein (eds.), ''Ruth Beckermann'', pp. 15-43.

Beckermann, Ruth, “In Praise of Detours”, in Therese Henningsen & Juliet Joffé (eds.), ''Strangers Within: Documentary as Encounter'' (London: Prototype, 2022), pp. 37-42.

Beckermann, Ruth, “This Love has the Character of a Dream” (interview with Karin Schiefer), January 2016 (press release for Die Geträumten), n.p.

Beckermann, Ruth, “Ruth Beckermann introduces her film Mutzenbacher”, Notebook, ''Column 16'', February 2023, at https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/ruth-beckermann-introduces-her-film-mutzenbacher (accessed 8 November 2023).

Beckermann, Ruth & Christa Blümlinger (eds.), ''Ohne Untertitel: Fragmente einer Geschichte des österrechischen Kinos'' (Vienna: Sonderzahl, 1996).

Beckermann, Ruth & Stefan Grissemann (eds.), ''europaMemoria'' (Vienna: Czernin Verlag, 2003).

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Patricia Allmer & John Sears, ''Passage Works: Ruth Beckermann's Art'', Manchester University Press, Manchester: 2025, ISBN 9781526172501. * Alexander Horwath, Michael Omasta (Ed.): ''Ruth Beckermann'', FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen Vol. 29, Vienna: 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-901644-68-9}} * Eszter Kondor, Michael Loebenstein (Ed.): ''Ruth Beckermann'', FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen, Vienna: 2019, {{ISBN|978-3-901644-80-1}}

==External links== * {{official|http://www.ruthbeckermann.com/en/}} * {{IMDb name|0065644}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckermann, Ruth}} Category:Austrian women film directors Category:Austrian documentary film directors Category:English-language film directors Category:Austrian Jews Category:Film people from Vienna Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Academic staff of the University of Salzburg Category:Women documentary filmmakers