Alexandr Hackenschmied
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Alexandr Hackenschmied, born Alexander Siegfried George Hackenschmied, known later as Alexander Hammid (17 December 1907 – 26 July 2004), was a
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
-American
photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...
,
film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
,
cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
and
film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...
. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became involved in American avant-garde cinema. He is best known for three films: ''
Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
'' (1939), '' Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943) and '' To Be Alive!'' (1964). He made ''Meshes of the Afternoon'' with
Maya Deren Maya Deren (; born Eleonora Derenkovskaya; ; Hella Heyman, who had also collaborated with Hammid and Deren on several films. He won the 1965
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for ''To Be Alive!'' (1964), which he co-directed with
Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...
. Born in
Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
, Austria-Hungary to the son of a school-teacher, he changed his name to Alexander Hammid when he became a citizen of the United States in 1942. He is best known for his work in
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
, both as a director, cameraman, and editor.


Career

According to Jaroslav Anděl's biography of Hackenschmied, in 1930, Hackenschmied created his first film ''Bezúčelná procházka'' (''
Aimless Walk ''Aimless Walk'' (Bezúčelná procházka) is an unconventional and complex 8-minute film directed by the Czech filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied, also known as Alexander Hammid. Released in 1930, the film falls within the experimental documentar ...
'') which inaugurated the movement of avant-garde film in Czechoslovakia. The same year he also organized the Exhibition of New Czech Photography in the Aventinská Mansarda—a showcase for artists of the Aventinum publishing house in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
—and the first show of European avant-garde films in the Kotva Cinema, also in Prague. He contributed to the illustrated weekly ''
Pestrý týden ''Pestrý týden'' was a Czech language, Czech illustrated weekly magazine published from 2 November 1926 to 28 April 1945, during the First Czechoslovak Republic, First and Second Czechoslovak Republics and during the Protectorate of Bohemia and ...
'' and also published a number of articles on photography and film, in which he formulated the new aesthetics of both fields. Before emigrating from Czechoslovakia, Hackenschmied worked for the Baťa Film Studio in
Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...
, founded by
Jan Antonín Baťa Jan Antonín Baťa (7 March 1898 – 23 August 1965) (also known as Jan Antonin Bata or Jan Bata, called the King of Shoes) was a Czech-Brazilian shoe manufacturer from Uherské Hradiště (southeastern Moravia), half-brother of Tomáš Baťa. ...
in the 1930s who hired young filmmakers and artists to develop modern films, primarily for advertising. While employed there, Hackenschmied made numerous advertising and documentary films. One of the most famous was a four minute commercial for Bata tires called ''The Highway Sings''. Created together with director
Elmar Klos Elmar Klos (26 January 1910 – 19 July 1993) was a Czech film director. He collaborated for 17 years with his Slovak colleague Ján Kadár and with him won the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for the film '' The Shop on Main Stree ...
and cinematographer
Jan Lukas Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...
in 1937, it featured an avant-garde style montage of auto tires in motion. During the late 1930s he collaborated with the American filmmaker Herbert Kline on the feature-length
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
''
Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
'' (1939) and moved to the USA where he met and married
Maya Deren Maya Deren (; born Eleonora Derenkovskaya; ; Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943), an experimental film with the directors playing the two protagonists. He also directed the documentaries ''
The Forgotten Village ''The Forgotten Village'' is a 1941 American documentary film—some sources call it an ethnofiction film—directed by Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid. The film was written by John Steinbeck, narrated by Burgess Meredith, and with music by ...
'' (1941), ''The Valley of the Tennessee'' (1944), and ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1945). Hammid also made the 22-minute short ''The Private Life of a Cat'' (1947). This short film was part narrative, part documentary about cats and their daily lives. The film starts off with two cats, a male and a female. The female is eventually impregnated by the male cat, and begins to search for shelter for when she gives birth to her kittens. The film shows her giving birth to five kittens in graphic detail. In 1944, he directed a documentary featuring conductor
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
, ''
Hymn of the Nations ''Hymn of the Nations'', originally titled ''Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations'', is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the '' Inno delle nazioni'', a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by ...
'', produced by the
Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
. He also appeared in
Maya Deren Maya Deren (; born Eleonora Derenkovskaya; ; At Land ''At Land'' is a 1944 American experimental silent short film written, directed by, and starring Maya Deren. It has a dream-like narrative in which a woman, played by Deren, is washed up on a beach and goes on a strange journey encountering oth ...
'' (1944), a 15-minute silent experimental film. His documentary ''
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
'' (1945) was nominated for an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Short Documentary. Through the 1950s and 1960s Hammid made documentaries. In 1951, Hackenschmied and
Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...
co-directed the film version of Menotti's opera ''
The Medium ''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946, with Claramae Turner a ...
''. Hammid directed his final film, '' To Be Alive!'' (1964), for screening at the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...
. The film won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Documentary Short in 1965. Hammid worked in partnership with filmmaker
Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...
for over 25 years, producing numerous “in-house” documentaries as well as several films for general viewership. One of the best known of these is the first
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
format film, ''
To Fly! ''To Fly!'' is a 1976 American Short film, short docudrama film directed by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman of MacGillivray Freeman Films, who wrote the story with Francis Thompson (film director), Francis Thompson, Robert M. Young (film di ...
'' (1976), which premiered at the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
’s
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...
(NASM) at the museum’s grand opening celebration on July 1, 1976. Produced in conjunction with MacGillivray Freeman Films, it continues to play regularly at the Air and Space Museum. During his years with Francis Thompson, Inc., Hammid went on to be involved with several other early IMAX films. Graeme Ferguson, co-founder of
IMAX Corporation IMAX Corporation is a Canadian production theater company which designs and manufactures IMAX cameras and Projection screen, projection systems as well as performing film development, production, post-production and distribution to IMAX-affiliat ...
(speaking at Francis Thompson’s memorial service in 2004) recalled how he had wanted Hammid and Thompson to make the first commercial IMAX films because of their extensive work in earlier large-scale multi-screen films including ''To Be Alive!'' (which won an Oscar after being shown at the New York World's Fair in 1964), ''We Are Young'' (on six screens for the Montreal World's Fair/Expo 67 in 1967) and ''US'' (for
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
's Hemisfair in 1969).


Death

Hammid died in July 2004 in his
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
apartment. He was 96.


Legacy

Austrian film director, Martina Kudláček directed, documentary, ''Aimless Walk: Alexander Hammid'' (1996) based on his life and work. In 2006,
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
organized a tribute film exhibition titled, "Alexander Hammid: A Memorial Salute" based on its film archives. The
Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...
has preserved ''Arturo Toscanini: Conducting Music of Giuseppe Verdi'' and ''Library of Congress'' by Alexandr Hackenschmied.


Filmography


Director

* ''
Aimless Walk ''Aimless Walk'' (Bezúčelná procházka) is an unconventional and complex 8-minute film directed by the Czech filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied, also known as Alexander Hammid. Released in 1930, the film falls within the experimental documentar ...
'' (1930) * ''The Prague Castle'' (1932) * ''
Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
'' (1939) * ''
The Forgotten Village ''The Forgotten Village'' is a 1941 American documentary film—some sources call it an ethnofiction film—directed by Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid. The film was written by John Steinbeck, narrated by Burgess Meredith, and with music by ...
'' (1941) * '' Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943) * ''Valley of the Tennessee'' (1944) * '' The Private Life of a Cat'' (1944) * ''
Hymn of the Nations ''Hymn of the Nations'', originally titled ''Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations'', is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the '' Inno delle nazioni'', a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by ...
'' (1944) * ''
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
'' (1945) * ''A Better Tomorrow'' (1945) * ''Marriage Today'' (1950) * ''Angry Boy'' (1950) * ''Of Men and Music'' (1951) * ''The Gentleman in Room 6'' (1951) * ''Power Among Men'' (1959) * '' To Be Alive!'' (1964) * ''U.S.'' (1968) * ''
To Fly! ''To Fly!'' is a 1976 American Short film, short docudrama film directed by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman of MacGillivray Freeman Films, who wrote the story with Francis Thompson (film director), Francis Thompson, Robert M. Young (film di ...
'' (1976)


Editor

* ''Loupežník'' (1931) * ''Zem spievá'' (1933, The Earth Sings) * ''A život jde dál'' (1935) * ''Crisis'' (1939) * ''The Photographer'' (1948) * ''
The Medium ''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946, with Claramae Turner a ...
'' (1951) * ''Miracle in Java'' (1956) * ''
Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...
'' (1957) * '' To Be Alive!'' (1964)


See also

*Book: Michael Omasta (ed.): ''Tribute to Sasha'' (Vienna: SYNEMA, 2002) (German/English) *Documentary Film: ''Aimless Walk: Alexander Hammid'' (1996, 48 minutes) directed by Martina Kudlacek


References


External links

*
Czech avant-garde pioneer Alexandr Hackenschmied (Hammid) dies at 96
Radio Prague article. *
''Private Life of a Cat'' (1947) at the Internet Archive''To Fly'' details at MacGillivray Freeman FilmsBata company history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackenschmied, Alexandr 1907 births 2004 deaths Czech photographers American experimental filmmakers American documentary filmmakers Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States People from Linz American film editors American cinematographers Directors of Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Czech film directors Czech experimental filmmakers Czech film editors