Manfred Alexander Kirchheimer (March 2, 1931 – July 16, 2024) was an American documentary film maker and professor of film at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in New York City. He previously taught at

NYIT The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

. He was born in

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, Germany, and his family moved to New York City in 1936 to escape

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. After receiving a B.A. from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

in 1952, he worked primarily as a film editor and he also began making his own films. A major theme in many of his documentaries is urban life. His most notable documentaries include: '' Stations of the Elevated'', '' We Were So Beloved'', '' Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan'', and '' Art Is... The Permanent Revolution''.

Biography

Manfred Alexander Kirchheimer was born to a Jewish family in

in 1931. In 1936, his family fled to the United States from Nazi Germany, settling in

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington (Manhattan), Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the Bennett Park (Ne ...

, New York. After arriving, he attended the

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. Upon graduating high school, he began studying film production with Hans Richter at the Hans Richter Institute of

Film Techniques This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described. Basic definitions of terms ;180-degree rule :A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within ...

at the City College of New York from 1948 to 1952, receiving a B.A. For the next 24 years, Kirchheimer worked as an editor, director, and

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not necessarily imply that a male is performing the task. ...

in the New York film industry. He edited on over 300 films for

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, and

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. The subjects of these films ranged from cultural to biographical. During these years, he also financed his own independent films while also working with Hans Richter and

Jay Leyda Jay Leyda (February 12, 1910 – February 15, 1988)David Stirk and Elena Pinto Simon in was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film historian, noted for his work on U.S, Soviet, and Chinese cinema, as well as his documentary compilations on ...

on films. In 1963, he was a camera operator for Leo Hurwitz. In the 1970s, Kirchheimer became a professor at the

in New York City where he taught film production; he was part of the faculty for the next four decades. However, after making the documentary '' We Were So Beloved'' (1985), he stepped away from filmmaking until 2006, when he embraced digital film editing and returned with '' Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan''. This began a new flurry of activity, which continued as late as 2022, as he made new projects and worked with old footage he had shot decades before.

Personal life and death

Kirchheimer was married to the former Gloria DeVidas, and had two children. He died from cancer at his home on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

of Manhattan, on July 16, 2024, at the age of 93.

Filmography

Style

Kirchheimer's films typically focus on aspects of urban life. His films have been described as "hopeful, yet they admonish for the future". He typically uses written commentary on screen rather than voice-over in his films. He often creates complex layerings of sound to create novel sound environments rather than the sound at the actual scene. About his audience he has said Kirchheimer did not typically collaborate with other filmmakers, saying:

Funding

According to Kirchheimer, most of the films he has made he paid for himself. His first film ''Colossus on the River'' cost about $3,500 to make. The first grant he received was $10,000 to make ''Stations of the Elevated'', which he said paid for about half of the film. He also received grants to make ''We Were So Beloved'', which paid for some but not all of the film making. Kirchheimer stated that he probably can make documentaries at lower cost than others because his former students help him without pay, but if he ever does make money from a film, they will get some of the proceeds. Kirchheimer stated in 2010 that he has never made back the money he has spent on his films.

Films

Awards and grants

Kirchheimer received a number of awards and grants for his documentary films including awards from:

Athens International Film Festival Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Yale Film Festival,

American Film Festival American Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. The first festival was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wrocław Municipality a ...

RiverRun International Film Festival The RiverRun International Film Festival is an annual Oscar-qualifying film festival held each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and ...

, Ciné Golden Eagle,

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...