Kurt Kren
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- September 20, 1929
- Died
- June 23, 1998 (aged 68)
- Birthplace
- Wien, Austria
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
Vienna Actionists Vol 1 & 2
Movie · Director
Bodyanalysis / Actions 1964–1970
Movie · Director
The Films of Kurt Kren 1957-1995
Movie · Director
50/96 Snapshots (For Bruce)
Movie · Director
49/95: thousandyearsofcinema
Movie · Director
48/94 Fragment W.E.
Movie · Director
47/91 A Celebration
Movie · Director
46/90 Falter 2
Movie · Director
44/85: Foot'-age Shoot'-out
Movie · Director
43/84: 1984
Movie · Director
41/82 Getting Warm
Movie · Director
40/81: Breakfast in Grey
Movie · Director
39/81 Which Way to CA?
Movie · Director
38/79: Sentimental Punk
Movie · Director
36/78: Rischart
Movie · Director
37/78: Tree Again
Movie · Director
33/77 No Danube
Movie · Director
34/76: Tschibo
Movie · Director
32/76: To W + B
Movie · Director
31/75: Asylum
Movie · Director
28/73: Time Exposure(s)
Movie · Director
30/73 Coop Cinema Amsterdam
Movie · Director
29/73 Ready-Made
Movie · Director
26/71: Cartoon - Balzac and the Eye of God
Movie · Director
27/71 On Peacock Isle
Movie · Director
24/70 Western
Movie · Director
23/69: Underground Explosion
Movie · Director
22/69 Happy-End
Movie · Director
18/68: Venecia kaputt
Movie · Director
20/68: Honey
Movie · Director
17/68: Green-red
Movie · Director
15/67: TV
Movie · Director
16/67: September 20th
Movie · Director
13/67: Sinus Beta
Movie · Director
12/66: Cosinus Alpha
Movie · Director
10/65: Self-Mutilation
Movie · Director
10c/65: Brus Wishes You a Merry Christmas
Movie · Director
10b/65: Silver – Action Brus
Movie · Director
11/65: Helga Philipp Painting
Movie · Director
6/64: Mom and Dad (An Otto Mühl Happening)
Movie · Director
8/64: Ana - Action Brus
Movie · Director
7/64: Leda and the Swan
Movie · Director
9/64: O Christmas Tree
Movie · Director
5/62: People Looking out of the Window, Trash, etc.
Movie · Director
4/61: Walls Pos.-Neg. and Way
Movie · Director
3/60: Trees in Autumn
Movie · Director
2/60: 48 Heads from the Szondi-Test
Movie · Director
1/57: Experiment with Synthetic Sound (Test)
Movie · Director
Black Movie I
Movie · Co-Director
Piano Salon 1. Floor
Movie · Director
Rome
Movie · Director
Das Walk
Movie · Director