Dudow, Slatan

Born Jan. 30, 1903, in Tsaribrod, Bulgaria; died July 12, 1963, in Berlin. German motion picture director. Member of the German Socialist Unity Party.

In 1922, Dudow began his studies at the Higher School of Theater Art. He also studied at the University of Berlin. In 1931 he filmed the documentary Housing Conditions of Berlin Workers. The following year he directed Kühle Wampe; this film, calling for a revolutionary reorganization of society, is an example of German proletarian cinematic art of the early 1930’s. In 1933, Dudow was arrested by the Nazis; he escaped from a concentration camp and fled to France, where he completed the film Soap Bubbles. In 1940 he emigrated to Switzerland. Upon his return to Germany in 1946, he helped organize the DEFA (Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft) studio. In 1949, Dudow released the film Our Daily Bread in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which examines the democratic changes in East Germany. His film Stronger Than the Night (1954) is about the Hamburg Communists’ struggle against fascism. In the film Captain From Cologne (1956), Dudow incisively satirizes the revanchists of the Federal Republic of Germany. Dudow was awarded the National Prize of the GDR in 1950, 1955 and 1957.