Rosa Porten (18 February 1884 – 7 May 1972) was a prolific German screenwriter, actress, and director during the silent film era.[1][2][3]
Early life
Porten was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, the daughter of Franz Porten and Wincenzia Porten (née Wybiral). She had a younger sister, Henny Porten, and a younger brother, Fritz Porten. Her father was an opera singer and her sister was a popular film star in Germany.[4]
Career
As a child, Porten and her sister would often appear in school plays and moving picture image collections featuring opera and arias that their father shot.[citation needed]
As a director, Porten's films were notable for featuring storylines centered on women.[3]
The following is a selected list of works by Porten.[5] Film archivists suspect that Porten worked on over 50 films, but most have not survived due to the flammable nature of the films of that period.[4] Her films have been featured in film festivals like The Fifth International Women and the Silent Screen Conference, Stockholm University, Sweden in June 2008, Il Cinema Ritrovato and UNESCO’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2010 and 2014.
1917: Das Opfer der Yella Rogesius = The Victim of the Yella Rogesius - director (as R. Portegg)
1917: Das Teufelchen = The Devil[4] - director (as Dr. R. Portegg)
In 2013, Österreichisches Filmmuseum = Austrian Film Museum restored this nitrate film, with the photochemical preservation process completed by Svenska Filminstitutet.[7] Original had special tinting which was recreated via the Desmet method[4]
1917: Die Landpomeranze = The Unwieldy Country Woman[4] - director (as Dr. R. Portegg)
Works and publications
Porten, Rosa. Die Filmprinzeß: Roman aus der Kino-Welt. = The Film Princess. Berlin: Eysler, 1919. OCLC711795572
^ abGaines, Jane M. (2007). "An Archive for the Future: Sad Songs of Nitrate: Women's Work in the Silent Film Archive". Camera Obscura. 22 (3 66): 171–178. doi:10.1215/02705346-2007-018.
