Press Release | Berlin, 12/02/2015

Bertelsmann Sponsors Restoration of a Fritz Lang Classic

• Legendary silent movie “Destiny” (Der müde Tod) is restored to historical color-tinting as part of digital restoration
• Another show of support for preserving German film legacy
• Worldwide premiere at the 2016 Berlinale

The international media company Bertelsmann is sponsoring the restoration of an early masterpiece by “Metropolis” director Fritz Lang and is thus renewing its commitment to preserving German film legacy. The Group is the main sponsor of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation’s comprehensive digital restoration of the 1921 silent movie “Destiny.” No theater copies of the legendary production from UFA’s historical legacy survived from the time. Copies produced later lack the coloration that once characterized this Weimar cinema classic, which is now being restored modeled on other works of the time. The Murnau Foundation and its partners have been working on the project since fall 2014, using materials and resources from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Munich Film Museum and the Národní filmový archiv in Prague, among others.

On February 12, 2016, "Destiny" will return to the big screen with its historical color-tinting intact at the International Film Festival in Berlin. The digital version will be shown as part of the “Berlinale Classics.” A new film score, produced by ZDF/ARTE, is being created for this world premiere and for subsequent use on TV, at movie theaters, on DVD and Blu-ray. Silent movie specialist Frank Strobel will conduct the famous Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB). The presentation of “Destiny” at the “Berlinale Classics” is a collaboration between the Berlin International Film Festival, Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen, the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, ZDF/ARTE, and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe comments: “As a creative company with a long tradition of its own in film production, Bertelsmann is again mounting an effort to bring historically significant movies from the analog into the digital era. Our financial commitment is also meant as a signal: preserving cinematic heritage and carefully transferring it into the future is a long-term task for society as a whole. Foundations and archives should not be left alone with this task.” In 2014, Bertelsmann was the main sponsor for the award-winning digital restoration of the silent movie classic “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Robert Wiene.

“Destiny,” filmed shortly after the First World War, is regarded as a reflection on the traumas of the war. Images as gloomy as they are fantastical tell the story of a young woman who must pass tests to reclaim her lover from Death. This haunting work established Fritz Lang as one of Germany’s leading directors and earned him international acclaim.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music company BMG and the Bertelsmann Education Group. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.