Laurens Straub, 1944 - 2007.

In 1970, Dutch writer, producer and occasional director Laurens Straub was, along with Fassbinder, Wenders, Volker Vogeler, Hark Bohm and others, one of the founders of the Filmverlag der Autoren, a milestone in the early history of the New German Cinema. It was, in essence, a DIY distribution cooperative. In the 80s, he and Horst Schier produced, among other films, Frank Ripploh's Taxi zum Klo, Richard Blank's Friedliche Tage, Radu Gabrea's Ein Mann wie EVA and Herbert Achternbusch's Rita Ritter.

The German Press Agency reports that Straub has died at age 62. For last year's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Hof Film Festival, Straub recalled some of his best years at one of Germany's most vital annual gatherings and it's there that you can get a sense, in English, of what he held dear: "Unity of place and film utopia. Dreamlike. Congenial. Brotherliness.... The most important thing is that our films exist."

Posted by dwhudson at April 20, 2007 9:34 AM