Books and films about Dean/Bücher und Filme über Dean

Dean Reed - The Red Elvis/Der Rote Elvis

Festivals

International Film Festival Bratislava

30.11.-08.12.2007

06.12.2007 17:30 Cinema 5

Der Rote Elvis (Germany)
The Red Elvis
2007

digibeta, far./col., 90 min. Réžia/Director: Leopold Grün. Scenár/Screenplay: Leopold Grün. Hudba/Music: Jan Weber, Olivier Fröhlich. Strih/Editor: Dirk Uhlig. Kamera/Dir. of Photography: Thomas Janze. Výroba/Production: Totho cmp GmbH. Predaj/Sales: ARRI Media Worldsales. dokument/documentary. videoprojekcia/video screening

American singer and actor Dean Reed became a phenomenon. Totally ignored by the Western world in the times of the Cold War, he was a superstar in the countries of the Eastern Bloc and South America. Reed was a political idealist who loved simple entertainment, a showman who lived in the DDR and the darling of women who sought his love. In socialism he found the fulfillment of a social utopia in which he had trusted. As a popular singer he performed in "Ein Kessel Buntes". He starred in 20 films, recorded 13 LPs and traveled on tour to 32 countries. As an American citizen he had complete freedom of travel, but in his interviews he used to praise the "advantages" of the Berlin Wall. Among his friends were Salvador Allende, Daniel Ortega and Jasir Arafat. He fought for world peace. His life ended under mysterious circumstances in 1986 in an East Berlin lake. The cause of his death is still surrounded by speculation.

Leopold Grün (1968, Dresden, Germany) graduated with a teacher's certification in 1989. He continued in his studies of social and media pedagogy in Munich from 1990 to 1995 and then at Humboldt University in Berlin (1996 – 1998). In 2002 he obtained a diploma in media consultancy. Since 1993 he has worked as a freelance documentary filmmaker. He has organized video installations and has been the executive director of the Institute of Youth Film Television in Berlin since 1999. He has been a consultant of the Emergeandsee Berlin Short Film Festival since 2001.

Films: 1993: Annäherung (dok. video/doc. video); 1995: You're Welcome (dok. video/doc. video); 1999 Ob Sie mir das glauben oder nicht (dok. video/doc. video); 2001: Final Destination (dok. video/doc. video); 2004: Mitfahrgelegnheit (kr./sh.); 2007: Der Rote Elvis.