Walter Ruttmann was a renowned German film director, and a pioneer in the realm of experimental filmmaking, alongside Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling, and Oskar Fischinger, in the early days of German experimental film.
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Ruttmann's film career commenced in the early 1920s, marked by the creation of his first abstract short films, Lichtspiel: Opus I (1921) and Opus II (1923),which were groundbreaking experiments in pushing the boundaries of film expression.
Ruttmann and his avant-garde contemporaries significantly enriched the language of film as a medium, introducing innovative formal techniques that redefined the art form.
As a prominent exponent of both avant-garde art and music, Ruttmann's early abstractions received international acclaim at the 1929 Baden-Baden Festival, despite being almost eight years old. He licensed a Wax Slicing machine from Oskar Fischinger to create unique special effects for Lotte Reiniger's films.
Collaborating with Erwin Piscator, Ruttmann worked on the film Melody of the World (1929),although he is most remembered for Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, 1927),a landmark film that showcased his mastery of cinematic storytelling.
During the Nazi era, Ruttmann worked as an assistant to director Leni Riefenstahl on the notorious film Triumph of the Will (1935). Tragically, he met his demise in Berlin, succumbing to wounds sustained while working as a war photographer on the front line.
