Herz Frank

Herz Frank was a Soviet Jewish documentary film director and a founder of the Riga school of poetic documentary film.

1926 to 2013Riga school of poetic documentaryThe film 10 Minutes OlderThe film The Last Judgment

Born: 17 January 1926, Ludza
Died: 3 March 2013, Jerusalem
Occupation: film director, director, screenwriter, cinematographer
Party: Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Herz Frank was born in 1926 in Ludza

Herz Frank was born in 1926 in the town of Ludza in Latvia. His father was a photographer who owned a photo studio. The family spoke Yiddish at home, and he attended a Jewish school and a Jewish gymnasium.

After World War II he served as an officer in the Red Army. From 1945 to 1947 he studied law in Moscow.

From 1952 he worked in journalism and publishing. In 1959 he joined the Riga film studios, first as a still photographer and later as a director and cinematographer. His black and white films focused on human emotions while making the camera's presence clear, and they won prizes at festivals in Oberhausen, Nyon, Leipzig and San Sebastian.

In 1992 he immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem, later living in both Israel and Europe. He died in 2013. His last film, about Yigal Amir, was completed after his death by his co-director Maria Kravchenko and released in 2014.