Rosa Porten (18 February 1884 – 7 May 1972) was a prolific German screenwriter, actress, and director during the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

era.

Early life

Porten was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the daughter of

Franz Porten Franz Porten (23 August 1859 – 21 May 1932) was a German actor and film director. He was the father of actress and film producer Henny Porten, screenwriter, actress, and director Rosa Porten, and actor Fritz Porten. Filmography Director ...

and Wincenzia Porten (née Wybiral). She had a younger sister,

Henny Porten Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955. Biography ...

, and a younger brother, Fritz Porten. Her father was an opera singer and her sister was a popular film star in Germany.

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. As a director, Porten's films were notable for featuring storylines centered on women.

Personal life

Porten was married to director

Franz Eckstein Franz Eckstein (2 April 1878 – February 1945) was a German screenwriter and film director of the silent era.Reimer & Reimer p.215 He made a number of films for the National Film company during the 1920s. He was married to the actress Rosa Porten ...

. She died in 1972 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Filmography

The following is a selected list of works by Porten. 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. 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 ''Il Cinema Ritrovato'' () is an annual film festival organised every summer by Cineteca di Bologna in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consist ...

and UNESCO’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2010 and 2014.

Screenwriter

* 1928: Die Heiratsfalle - writer, director * 1927: '' The Girl from Abroad'' - writer * 1927: ''Fahrendes Volk'' (documentary short) - writer * 1925: ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage.Meyer, Michael Lever ...

'' (screenplay) - writer * 1924: ''Die Schmetterlingsschlacht'' - writer * 1922: ''

Your Bad Reputation ''Your Bad Reputation'' () is a 1922 German silent drama film directed by Franz Eckstein and starring Werner Funck, Olga Limburg and Paul Graetz.Caneppele p. 56 The film's sets were designed by the art director Adolf von Marées. Cast * ...

'' - writer, actor * 1921: ''

Your Brother's Wife ''Your Brother's Wife'' (German: ''Deines Bruders Weib'') is a 1921 German silent film directed by Franz Eckstein and starring Olaf Storm, Olga Limburg and Margarete Schlegel.Feld p.386 Cast * Werner Funck * Olga Limburg * Auguste Prasch ...

'' - writer * 1921: ''Die Hexe'' - writer * 1921: ''Die Rächer'' - writer * 1921: ''Lotte Lore'' - writer * 1921: ''Was tat ich dir?'' - writer * 1921: '' You Are the Life '' - writer * 1921: ''Durch Liebe erlöst'' - writer * 1921: ''Opfer der Liebe'' - writer * 1920: ''Badebubi'' - writer * 1920: ''Das Drama von Glossow'' - writer * 1920: ''Auri Sacra Fames, 2. Teil - Das Testament eines Exzentrischen'' - writer, actor * 1920: ''Auri Sacra Fames, 1. Teil - An der Liebe Narrenseil'' - writer, actor * 1920: ''Themis'' - writer, actor * 1919: ''Die da sterben, wenn sie lieben'' - writer * 1918: ''Die Augen der Schwester'' - writer, actor * 1918: ''Ihr Junge'' - writer, actor * 1918: '' Film Kathi'' - writer, director, actor * 1918: ''Der Trompeter von Säckingen'' - writer * 1917: ''Die nicht lieben dürfen...'' - writer, director, actor * 1917: ''Ihr laßt den Armen schuldig werden'' - writer, actor * 1917: '' The Coquette'' - writer, director, actor * 1917: '' The Newest Star of Variety'' - writer, director, actor * 1917: ''Gräfin Maruschka'' - writer, director, actor * 1916: ''Die Wäscher-Resl'' - writer, director, actor * 1916: ''Das große Schweigen'' - writer * 1915: ''Abgründe'' - writer * 1911: ''Das Liebesglück der Blinden = The Happy Love of a Blind Girl'' (short) - writer

Actor

* 1921: ''Die Rächer'' - actor * 1910: ''Das Geheimnis der Toten'' (short) - actor * 1910: ''Wem gehört das Kind? = Who owns the child?'' (short) - actor ** In 2014, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna restored this

nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitration, nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitri ...

that was in the holdings of the

Deutsche Kinemathek Die Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen Berlin (English: "German Cinematheque – Museum of Film and Television Berlin") is a major German film archive and film museum located in Berlin, Germany. Located at Potsdamer Platz sinc ...

* 1909: ''Der Brief an den lieben Gott'' (short) - actor * 1909: ''Die kleine Baroness'' (short) - actor * 1909: ''Othello'' (short) - actor, as Emilia * 1908: ''Funiculi Funicula'' (short) - actor * 1906: ''Apachentanz'' (short) - actor * 1906: ''Meißner Porzellan'' (short) - actor, as Dame

Director

As a director, Porten often co-directed with her husband, Franz Eckstein; in these instances she used the pseudonym, Dr. R. Portegg. * 1920: ''Die List Einer Zigarettenmacherin = Wanda's Trick'' - director (as R. Portegg) * 1918: '' Not of the Woman Born'' - director * 1918: ''Der Dieb'' - director (as R. Portegg) * 1917: ''Das Opfer der Yella Rogesius = The Victim of the Yella Rogesius'' - director (as R. Portegg) * 1917: ''Das Teufelchen = The Devil'' - director (as Dr. R. Portegg) ** In 2013, Österreichisches Filmmuseum = Austrian Film Museum restored this

, with the photochemical preservation process completed by Svenska Filminstitutet. Original had special tinting which was recreated via the

Desmet method The Desmet Method (also known as Desmetcolor) is a method for restoring the colours of early silent films, which had originally been subjected to the processes of either: * Film tinting – a process that suffuses the entire image a single colou ...

* 1917: ''Die Landpomeranze = The Unwieldy Country Woman'' - director (as Dr. R. Portegg)

Works and publications

* Porten, Rosa. ''Die Filmprinzeß: Roman aus der Kino-Welt. = The Film Princess.'' Berlin: Eysler, 1919.

References

External links

*
Rosa Porten
on the Women Film Pioneers Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Porten, Rosa Actresses from Düsseldorf German women film directors Film people from Düsseldorf German film actresses German silent film actresses 20th-century German actresses 1884 births 1972 deaths Women film pioneers