Film Archive

On the Trial of Battleship Potemkin (Dem Panzerkreuzer Potemkin auf der Spur)

Everyone knows it or thinks that they know it - but they really do not: the classic film The Battleship Potemkin (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein. Shortly after its completion, the film and original negatives were sold to Germany in 1926 and mutilated by censorship authorities. The film was then sent back to the Soviet Union and revised several times.

On the Trail of Battleship Potemkin presents the different versions, the German restoration from 2005, and statements from head restorer Enno Patalas, Eisenstein expert Naum Kleeman, and Helmut Imig, who adapted the original Edmund Meisel score. A fascinating, film historical detective story.

Artem Demenok was born in 1962 and studied at the Moscow film academy VGIK. Since 1990 he has been working in Germany as a film critic, historian and filmmaker. A selection of his films includes: Helden ohne Ruhm. Der 17. Juni 1953 (TV, 2003), Endstation Freiheit. Leben und Schreiben im heutigen Russland (TV, 2003), Was geschah wirklich am 20. Juli 1944? (TV, 2004), Welthauptstadt Germania (TV, 2005), Deutsche Lebenslaeufe: Fritz Lang (TV, 2007), Dem Panzerkreuzer Potemkin auf der Spur (TV, 2007), Die Gebrueder Grimm - Woertersammler (TV, 2009), and The Journey to Metropolis (Die Reise nach Metropolis, TV, 2010).
 

Genre Art, Education, History
Category Documentary TV
Year of Production 2007
Director Artem Demenok
Directors of Photography Michael Boomers, Oleg Stinski
Editor Michael Auer
Original Music by Edmund Meisel
Producer Loy W. Arnold
Production Company Transit Film/Munich, in cooperation with Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum fuer Film und Fernsehen/Berlin
Principal Cast Enno Patalas, Naum Kleeman, Helmut Imig
Length 42 min
Format color, Betacam Digital, 4:3
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions Russian
Sound Technology Stereo

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