Richard Groschopp

Richard Groschopp, born in Koelleda, Germany in 1906, began a career directing short films at age 25 under the then Weimar Republic and continued during the Nazi era, working both on commercials at an advertising studio in Dresden and educational documentaries for the Navy. In 1946 he joined the DEFA studio in the East as cinematographer and editor and newsreel director. He was a member of the team that made "Stacheltiere" shorts, named after the word for porcupine, these were lively little political jabs that were able to satirize aspects of life under party control in East Germany, done between 1953 and 1964. Toward the end of his years Groschopp graduated to genre features such as westerns, spy films and crime stories. He lived until 1996.