Known For
Directing
Born
Sep 20, 1929
Died
Jun 23, 1998
Place of Birth
Wien, Austria
Credits
68 titles
Kurt Kren
Biography
Kurt Kren was born in 1929 in Vienna, Austria from a Jewish father and a German mother. From 1939 till the end of World War II, Kren lived in Rotterdam, where he was sent to with one of the Children's Transports. In 1947 Kren returned to Vienna, and his father provided him a job at the National Bank. He began making films in 1957. 2/60 48 Köpfe Aus Dem Szondi -Test (1960) was his first serial film and 3/60 Bäume Im Herbst (1960) confirmed this structural orientation. He realized in the 1960s his most famous films with the Viennese actionists, where his skill of short film blossomed. In 1966, he took part in the « Destruction in Art Symposium » organized by Metzger in London. In 1968 he visited the USA for the first time, showing his films in New York and St. Louis. This very year he became a founder of the Austria Filmmakers Cooperative. After a participation in a happening "Kunst und Revolution" ("Art and Revolution") at the University of Vienna in 1968, Kren's films were confiscated and he was fired from the National Bank. He participated in 1970 in the International Underground Film Festival (London) and in 1971, in the Cannes Film Festival. He then moved to Cologne for five years. Retrospectives were set up by the London National Film Theatre in 1976 and the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1979. He was also involved in the Dokumenta 6 of Kassel in 1977. From 1978 to 1989, Kren lived in the USA and presented lectures for universities and schools. He did many jobs such as security officer in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Within this period he made his bad home movies as he used to call them inspired by his travels across the country. He finally returned to his native Vienna in 1990. He died from pneumonia in Vienna in 1998.
Known For
Filmography
Becoming Otto
Bodyanalysis / Actions 1964–1970
Director of Photography
The Films of Kurt Kren 1957-1995
Director
The 120 Days of Bottrop
Director of Photography
Birth of a Nation
Self
Homage to Kurt Kren
50/96 Snapshots (For Bruce)
Director
49/95: thousandyearsofcinema
Director
48/94 Fragment W.E.
Director
Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, Part 3
47/91 A Celebration
Director
46/90 Falter 2
Director
No Danube - Kurt Kren and His Films
Self
Home Movies 1971-81
44/85: Foot'-age Shoot'-out
Director
43/84: 1984
Director
Project Y
Dumpman
41/82 Getting Warm
Director
39/81 Which Way to CA?
Director
40/81: Breakfast in Grey
Director
Exit... But No Panic
Voyeur
38/79: Sentimental Punk
Director
37/78: Tree Again
Director
36/78: Rischart
33/77 No Danube
Director
32/76: To W + B
Director
34/76: Tschibo
Director
31/75: Asylum
Director
29/73 Ready-Made
Himself
28/73: Time Exposure(s)
Director
30/73 Coop Cinema Amsterdam
Director
The Lascivious Wotan
Cinematography
27/71 On Peacock Isle
Director
26/71: Cartoon - Balzac and the Eye of God
Director
Portrait: Kurt Kren
Himself
24/70 Western
Director
Sodoma
Scheiss-Kerl
Cinematography
23/69: Underground Explosion
Director
22/69 Happy-End
Director
Porträtfilm: Kurt Kren
Himself
17/68: Green-red
Director
18/68: Venecia kaputt
Director
Amore - Aktion mit einem Masochisten
Camera Operator
Satisfaction
Cinematography
20/68: Honey
Director
15/67: TV
Director
16/67: September 20th
Director
13/67: Sinus Beta
Director
12/66: Cosinus Alpha
Director