I am Ernst Busch - Portrait of the German political artist (2000)

Ernst Busch (1900 - 1980), singer and actor, was a political artist. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death, on June 8, 2000, the documentary filmmaker Peter Voigt started searching for an unusual
track. In the centre of his film on the unconventional artist there are not biographical details but central conflicts in the area of conflicts between politics and culture which determined Busch's life.
Ernst Busch came from a workingclass environment all his life he had been singing and playing for his "class". In the Weimar Republic he became the voice of the left, the "barricades' Tauber". Songs by Eisler formed part of his repertory, he performed plays by Toller and Muehsam and appeared in Brechts Film "Kuhle Wampe". Busch was fighting in the Spanish civil
war also here his weapon was the song. After World War II we wanted to stand up for the reconstruction of a socialist Germany. Yet, in the GDR his engagement was restricted. The leadership of the state was able to renounce the singer Busch: in the early 50ies radio stations stopped to broadcast his songs. In spite of this he remained true to his art and ideology.
A fillm by Peter Voigt, voice by Klaus Löwitsch
Director: Sebastian Eschenbach, Peter Voigt
Narrator: Klaus Löwitsch
Camera: Christian Lehmann, Gunther Becher
Sound: Sebastian Schreiber
Graphics: Grischa Meyer
Editor: Thomas Malz
Production: Annette Rupp
Editorial staff: Jürgen Tomm, Rolf Bergmann