Peter Pewas

Director & actor · born 22 April 1904 · Berlin, Germany

April 22, 1904, in Berlin, made an apprenticeship as a metal worker after finishing school and worked in his job in Czechoslovakia and in Austria. In 1920, he went to Weimar"s Bauhaus for nine months and studied under Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. From 1933 on, Pewas worked as a freelance commercial artist and created film posters and movie theatre adverts.

In 1932, Pewas started a documentary film project about Alexanderplatz but was arrested by the Gestapo during filming in 1934 and his footage was confiscated. Suspected of high treason, Pewas was sent to jail twice. After his release, he continued to work as a commercial artist in the movie business.

Where to start: Kennzeichen Luftballon (1967).