Erster Verlust

D: Maxim Dessau
W: Maxim Dessau
C: Peter Badel
E: Dorothea Brühl
M: Karl-Ernst Sasse
A: Pawel Sanajew, Julia Jäger, Uta Koschel, Jaecki Schwarz, Martin Seifert
P: DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
Prod: Harald Andreas
WP: October 1990

Original format: 35mm, b/w
Screening print: 2K DCP, 96 min, Deutsche Kinemathek

The 2K restoration of the film was carried out by the Berlin-based company Eurotape. The 35mm original camera negative, which was in some parts heavily damaged by scratches, was used for the image processing. A 17.5mm magnetic tape served as the source for the audio restoration. The director Maxim Dessau oversaw the entire restoration process, while the color grading was supervised by cinematographer Peter Badel. The digitization was funded by the German Film Heritage Program (FFE).

was born in 1953 in Berlin, Germany, and is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer who specializes in theatrically released documentaries, feature films and television productions. After studying cinematography at the Film and Television Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg, he worked as a cinematographer at the DEFA studio for feature films before becoming freelance in 1992. He also organizes symposia on cinematography and is extensively involved in teaching and mentoring at various universities and academies. Badel has enjoyed a collaborative friendship with the film director Thomas Heise since 1982 and frequently works with the directors Christian Klemke, Maxim Dessau, Kurt Tetzlaff and Jan Lorenzen. He has a collection of social photography of the 1920s and has served as a curator on the subject; he is also a member of the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts) in Berlin. He is currently working on ‘Übergang – ein Film für Thomas Heise’ (2026).

was born in Berlin in 1954. He studied film directing at the Film and Television Academy in Potsdam-Babelsberg and went on to become a masterclass student at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and a guest lecturer at the city’s Ernst Busch University of Theatre Arts. He made his debut feature film ‘Erster Verlust’ (1990) at the DEFA studio for feature films in Babelsberg. In 1992, he received the Bavarian Television Award for the documentary ‘Ugorski – Denn seinen Freunden gibt er’s schlafend’. Alongside his film career, Dessau has worked in lyric theater at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, Münchener Biennale and Berliner Ensemble, among others. He has also written ballet libretti for Theater Kiel and Oper Leipzig and has led workshops in opera directing at institutions including the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin.

studied communication science and management in Erfurt, Oslo and Leipzig. In 2017, he wrote his master’s thesis on “Online Communication Strategies in the Film Industry: Marketing Opportunities for Theatrically Released Feature Films in Germany”. He has worked for the DEFA Foundation in Berlin for many years, beginning during his studies, and has headed its public relations department since 2020. In this role, he presents film introductions and writes texts on film history.