# Ruth Beckermann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ruth_Beckermann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ruth_Beckermann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Beckermann > Source revision: 1338379360 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/Vienna) and [Paris](/source/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](/source/the_Holocaust).{{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 }} Beckermann studied journalism and art history in [Vienna](/source/Vienna) and [Tel Aviv](/source/Tel_Aviv), and received her [doctorate](/source/doctorate) in 1977. In [New York](/source/New_York_City) she studied photography at the [School of Visual Arts](/source/School_of_Visual_Arts).{{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}} During her studies, she contributed as a journalist to several Austrian and Swiss magazines.{{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}} ==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](/source/16mm) film, ''Arena Besetzt'' (''Arena Squatted'') documented the occupation of the old Viennese slaughterhouse [Arena](/source/Arena%2C_Vienna).{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=20&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}{{cite web |title=Arena besetzt |url=https://www.documentamadrid.com/en/films/arena-besetzt |website=DocumentaMadrid |access-date=2 May 2020 |language=en}} The following year, Beckermann founded the film distribution company ''Filmladen'' along with Aichholzer and Grafl, where she continued working until 1985.{{Cite web |title=Über uns {{!}} Filmladen Filmverleih |url=https://www.filmladen.at/ueber-uns/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |language=en-US}} In 1978 and 1981, filmed shot two documentaries, ''Suddenly A Strike''{{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}} and ''The Steelhammer Out there on The Grass'' on the topics of labour and strike.{{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}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=13&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}{{imdb title|1056240|Return to Vienna}} 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](/source/Habsburg) rule.{{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}} In ''Towards Jerusalem'' Beckermann travels between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem while exploring the Zionist utopia of a Jewish homeland.{{Cite web|url = http://www.ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=17&l=eng|title = Towards Jerusalem|website = ruthbeckermann.com}} 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''{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=16&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}} was made during the so-called [Wehrmachtsausstellung](/source/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](/source/World_War_II_in_Austria).{{Cite book |last=Pick |first=Hella |title=Guilty Victim: Austria from the Holocaust to Haider |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2000 |pages=15}} In her 1999 film, ''A Fleeting Passage to The Orient'', she follows the traces of [Elisabeth of Bavaria](/source/Elisabeth_of_Bavaria).{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=15&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}} In 2001, ''homemad(e)'' depicts how the political turn in 2000 was reflected in a Viennese coffee house.{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=14&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}} Five years later, she followed four 12-year-olds on their journey to [Bar Mitzva](/source/Bar_Mitzva).{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=12&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}{{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}} was shown in festivals in Paris' ([Cinema du Reel](/source/Cinema_du_Reel),{{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 }}), Vienna ([Viennale](/source/Viennale){{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 | Viennale }} 06) in [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires) and [Chicago](/source/Chicago), and became a success with audiences.{{cn|date=May 2023}} In 2011, ''American Passages''{{cite web|url=http://ruthbeckermann.com/home.php?il=44&l=eng |title=Ruth Beckermann |publisher=Ruth Beckermann |access-date=2012-10-08}}{{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 }} premiered in the competition[http://www.cinemadureel.org/rubrique624.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725171628/http://www.cinemadureel.org/rubrique624.html|date=July 25, 2011}} at the [Cinéma du Réel](/source/Cin%C3%A9ma_du_R%C3%A9el).[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}} Most of her films – such as, most recently "Wax and Gold" – have premiered at the [Berlin International Film Festival](/source/Berlin_International_Film_Festival){{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}} or the [Cinéma du Réel](/source/Cin%C3%A9ma_du_R%C3%A9el) in [Paris](/source/Paris).{{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 }} A DVD collection of her films was released in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Ruth Beckermann |url=https://shop.ruthbeckermann.com/product/film-collectors-box |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=shop.ruthbeckermann.com}} ==Other activities== Beckermann is a founding member of the Austrian Documentary and Filmmakers Society.{{cite web|url=http://www.dok.at/ |title=/ Aktuelles |publisher=Dok.at |access-date=2012-10-08}} She has authored several books and essays (listed below).{{cn|date=May 2023}} She taught at the [University of Salzburg](/source/University_of_Salzburg), [the University of Illinois](/source/the_University_of_Illinois), and at the [University of Applied Arts Vienna](/source/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](/source/Man%C3%A8s_Sperber_Prize_for_Literature){{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}} * 2015: [Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst](/source/%C3%96sterreichisches_Ehrenzeichen_f%C3%BCr_Wissenschaft_und_Kunst) (Austrian Decoration for Science and Art){{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}} * 2022: Encounters Award at the [72nd Berlin International Film Festival](/source/72nd_Berlin_International_Film_Festival) for ''Mutzenbacher''{{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}} ==Filmography== * Wax and Gold (2026) * ''[Favoriten](/source/Favoriten_(film))'' (2024) * ''Mutzenbacher'' (2022) * ''[The Waldheim Waltz](/source/The_Waldheim_Waltz)'' (2018) * ''[The Dreamed Ones](/source/The_Dreamed_Ones)'' (''Die Geträumten''; 2016), based on correspondence between poets [Ingeborg Bachmann](/source/Ingeborg_Bachmann) and [Paul Celan](/source/Paul_Celan){{cite web | last=Oltermann | first=Philip | title=Poets' unlikely love letters are turned into critically acclaimed film | website= [The Guardian](/source/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}}{{imdb title|5463370|The Dreamed Ones}} * ''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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ruth Beckermann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Beckermann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Beckermann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.