Person
Kurt Kren
Wien, Austria
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…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2010
Becoming Otto
Movie
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2004
Bodyanalysis / Actions 1964–1970
Movie Director of Photography
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2001
The Films of Kurt Kren 1957-1995
Movie Director
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1997
The 120 Days of Bottrop
Movie Director of Photography
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1997
Birth of a Nation
Movie Self
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1997
Homage to Kurt Kren
Movie
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1996
50/96 Snapshots (For Bruce)
Movie Director
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1995
49/95: thousandyearsofcinema
Movie Director
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1994
48/94 Fragment W.E.
Movie Director
- 1993
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1991
47/91 A Celebration
Movie Director
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1990
46/90 Falter 2
Movie Director
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1988
No Danube - Kurt Kren and His Films
Movie Self
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1985
Home Movies 1971-81
Movie
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1985
44/85: Foot'-age Shoot'-out
Movie Director
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1984
43/84: 1984
Movie Director
More credits
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1983
Project Y
Movie Dumpman
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1982
41/82 Getting Warm
Movie Director
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1981
39/81 Which Way to CA?
Movie Director
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1981
40/81: Breakfast in Grey
Movie Director
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1980
Exit... But No Panic
Movie Voyeur
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1979
38/79: Sentimental Punk
Movie Director
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1978
37/78: Tree Again
Movie Director
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1978
36/78: Rischart
Movie
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1977
33/77 No Danube
Movie Director
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1976
32/76: To W + B
Movie Director
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1976
34/76: Tschibo
Movie Director
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1975
31/75: Asylum
Movie Director
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1973
28/73: Time Exposure(s)
Movie Director
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1973
29/73 Ready-Made
Movie Himself
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1973
30/73 Coop Cinema Amsterdam
Movie Director
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1971
The Lascivious Wotan
Movie Cinematography
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1971
27/71 On Peacock Isle
Movie Director
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1971
26/71: Cartoon - Balzac and the Eye of God
Movie Director
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1970
Portrait: Kurt Kren
Movie Himself
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1970
24/70 Western
Movie Director
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1970
Sodoma
Movie
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1969
Scheiss-Kerl
Movie Cinematography
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1969
23/69: Underground Explosion
Movie Director
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1969
22/69 Happy-End
Movie Director
