Bernard Natan

Bernard Natan
Bernard Natan
Bernard Natan on trial (filmed against his wishes)
Born
Natan Tannenzaft or Natan Tanenzapf

(1886-07-14)14 July 1886[1]
Iași, Kingdom of Romania
Died1942–1943 (aged 56–57)
Auschwitz-Birkenau, German-occupied Poland
Cause of deathExecution?

Bernard Natan (born Natan Tannenzaft; 14 July 1886 – 1942[1] or 1943[2]) was a French-Romanian film entrepreneur, director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s.

Natan worked in cinema from a young age, working his way up from projectionist and chemist to cinematographer and producer.[3] He eventually acquired the largest French motion picture studio, Pathé, in 1929, just prior to the Great Depression.[4] Pathé collapsed in 1935, and Natan was the subject of false and antisemitic accusations of fraud,[5] and was ultimately convicted and imprisoned by French authorities.[6][7][3] Natan was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in September 1942, where he was murdered.[8][9][10] However, Natan laid the foundation for the modern film industry in France and helped revolutionize film technology around the world.[7]

  1. ^ a b Rossel-Kirschen, André. "Bernard Natan". Les independents due premier siecle. Retrieved 27 July 2023 – via LIPS.org.
  2. ^ "Ein vergessenes Leben" [A Forgotten Life]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 15 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CairnsDuane was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference telluride was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hutchinson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Waugh, Thomas (1996). Hard To Imagine. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-09998-3.
  7. ^ a b Slade, Joseph (Summer–Fall 1993). "Bernard Natan: France's Legendary Pornographer". Journal of Film and Video. 45 (2–3): 72–90. JSTOR 20688007.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Origins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rooster was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference FirstWave was invoked but never defined (see the help page).