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06/06/07
Press Release of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
Re.: The article “Man kann uns nicht einfach ausradieren” (“They cannot simply erase us”) in the newspaper DIE ZEIT # 22, May 24, 2007 (page 47)
Berlin, May 24, 2007
The Fassbinder Foundation has not yet decided how it will proceed regarding Ingrid Caven’s untrue allegations in the above-mentioned article published in the newspaper “Die Zeit”.
At this point, the Fassbinder Foundation wishes to point out that its primary concern is to establish the necessary conditions for the preservation of Fassbinder’s film oeuvre so that film fans and the general public alike may continue to view his work. It is up to every individual to interpret and to discuss Fassbinder’s work according to their own viewpoints. This is particularly true for all those once close to Fassbinder, such as the composer Peer Raben, the cameraman Michael Ballhaus and for all of Fassbinder’s actors. The oeuvre, created through the combined effort of many people, speaks for itself. No one can be pushed out of this story. This would only be possible if the films would no longer be shown.
It is the proclaimed purpose of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation that this does not happen: Just this past February, Fassbinder’s master work Berlin Alexanderplatz – Remastered was presented to the public during a gala on the occasion of the Berlinale, after it had been restored in a long and costly process. If it had not been for the Fassbinder Foundation’s involvement, the work would have been forever lost.
While the caring for and the preservation of the work was the intention of Liselotte Eder, mother and heir of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, when she created the Foundation, this remains its aim to this day. Presently, the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation is headed by Juliane Lorenz, sole heir of Liselotte Eder who left her the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation.
Juliane Lorenz
President Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
Press Release
Re: the dpa (German Press Agency) press release dated May 30, 2007 entitled
“Fassbinder-Mitarbeiter: Lorenz soll Foundation abgeben” (“Fassbinder-collaborators: Lorenz should leave the foundation”)
It is impossible for there to be a dispute – as published by the dpa – about the estate of the film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder who died 25 years ago: All legal aspects concerning the estate have always been unambiguous.
After his death, the parents of Rainer Werner Fassbinder each inherited one half of his estate. In 1986, his mother, Liselotte Eder, took her portion of the estate and founded the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation Gemeinnützige Nachlaßstiftung GmbH (RWFF) (i.e. a not-for-profit foundation). In 1988 Liselotte Eder signed a contract with Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s father: it stipulated that she would take over his rights and would incorporate them into the RWFF. From then on, Frau Eder was the sole leader of RWFF. At the end of the1980s, she appointed a temporary manager to support her. It was not until 1991, when Juliane Lorenz worked on the first big Fassbinder exhibition in Berlin, that Liselotte Eder asked her to become the director of RWFF. After the death of Liselotte Eder (May 7, 1993) Juliane Lorenz became – thanks to Liselotte Eder’s testament – her sole heir and the only legal successor to the copyright of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s oeuvre.
It was the wish of Liselotte Eder, to transform the copyright of her son’s work into a private Gemeinnützige Nachlaßstiftung GmbH (i.e. a not-for-profit, private foundation). Such a foundation is not subject to the control of a board. Instead, it is under permanent review of the internal revenue office. The foundation’s purpose, stipulated by Liselotte Eder, it to preserve and to take care of the artistic oeuvre of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Revenues from the utilization of the work are to be used towards paying for the administration and especially for taking care of the work, for example to pay for the restoration and the preservation of the film materials.
The specific legal type of the RWFF may be taken from its letterhead. There is no legal obligation for a foundation to have a board, and especially not for the RWFF’s specific type of foundation, the Nachlaßstiftung GmbH. RWFF submits its annual report to the internal revenue office.
Juliane Lorenz is the sole partner in the RWFF and as such the owner of the private Nachlaßstiftung GmbH. She does not intend to resign from her position in her foundation. Only Ms. Lorenz alone could decide to step down.
The restoration of Fassbinder’s Berlin Alexanderplatz was masterminded by RWFF in cooperation with the original producer, Bavaria Film, today Bavaria Media. Xaver Schwarzenberger, the original director of photography of Berlin Alexanderplatz, was the artistic director in this endeavor. He created the new color grading from the original. The German press, most notably the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), published a raving review of the film’s quality and its restoration on the occasion of its first showing in Germany. This praise was also expressed in director Tom Tykwer’s essay, published in the FAZ on February 8, 2007. A. O. Scott’s article in the New York Times, published on April 8, 2007, was equally enthusiastic. Further screenings of Berlin Alexanderplatz are scheduled to take place around the world.
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