Konstantin Märska
Konstantin Märska (born 16 Maijul / May 28 1896greg in Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa, .. † August 30, 1951 in Tallinn) was an Estonian film director. He pioneered the art of film in Estonia.
Life and film
Konstantin Märska was the son of Anton (1862-1937) and Liisi Märska (born Teder, 1864-1935 ) was born the fourth of six children. At the age of fifteen years Märska began his film career as an assistant to a projectionist in a movie theater in Kuressaare. At that time he was already rotating his first recordings with a home-made camera.
Together with his older brother Theodor Märska (1889-1961) he founded in 1919 the film company Estonia movie. The capital contributed the brothers John and Peeter Parikas. The company was active until its bankruptcy in 1932.
In 1921 he produced the likely second feature film of the Estonian film history, the comedy Armastuse pisielukas. In 1924, he turned as a cameraman with Mineviku varjud the first long silent film of the Estonian film history. The period drama is now considered lost. From 1925 Märska worked for UFA and Paramount in Germany as a cameraman for the newsreels. In the summer of 1928 he returned from Berlin to Estonia back.
In the late 1920s turned Märska in Estonia with his own company Konstantin Märska Filmiproduktsioon three more silent films. They were followed in 1930 under the direction of Boris Jaanikosk the movie Kuldämblik. The strip with his vocals was the first attempt of an Estonian talkies. The sound was played on phonograph records in the cinema. The film was due to its technical shortcomings, however, a flop.
Subsequently, Märska withdrew from the feature film business. He took a job at at the film studio founded in 1931 Tallinn Eesti Kultuurfilm. There, he specialized in newsreels and documentary films as well as reports. 1936/37, he turned ethnological observations in südostestnischen Petserimaa ( Pühad Petseris ) and on the island Osmussaare ( Vaated Osmussaarelt ).
1938/39, turned Märska as a cameraman in Finland. There the strip Isoviha and Simo Hurtta emerged.
1941 Märska was employed by the Estonian Newsreel Kinokroonika. Even after the Soviet occupation of Estonia, he remained in the country. He was transferred to the State Soviet - Estonian film company Tallinna Kinostuudio 1947. Märska was second cameraman for the first Estonian feature film after the Second World War, Elu tsitadellis, directed by Herbert Rappaport.
Märska then focused primarily on documentaries, mostly on nature topics. For his documentary Eesti Põlevkivi ( " The Estonian oil shale " ) in 1949, he received the Prize of the Estonian SSR.
Private life
Konstantin Märska married in December 1919 Hilda Treifeldt ( 1901-1966 ). The couple had two daughters.
Märska died in 1951 at the age of only 55 years. He is buried at the cemetery Rahumäe the Estonian capital.