Biography
Ingrid Reschke, born March 13, 1936, studied film directing at Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen in Potsdam-Babelsberg from 1959 to 1963. After her graduation, she was employed as an assistant director at DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme. Alongside Hannelore Underberg, Evelyn Schmidt, and Iris Gusner, Reschke is one of the few female feature film directors at DEFA in the 1960s and 1970s.
Her debut film as a director, the children"s film "Daniel und der Weltmeister" (1963) was based on Wera and Claus Küchenmeister"s children"s book by the same name. The film tells the story of little Daniel who detests milk above all other things. In search of his idol, the world champion bicycle racer Gustav-Adolf "Täve" Schur, the boy travels to Leipzig and hopes that Schur approves his contempt for milk.
After her collaboration with Helmut Grewald, Alfred Hirschmeier, and Hanus Burger for the screenplay of the literary adaptation "Nichts als die Sünde" (1965), directed by Hanus Burger, that was based on William Shakespeare"s play "Twelfth Night", Reschke again worked as a director and finished the films "Wir lassen uns scheiden" ("We Are Getting Divorced", 1968) and "Der Weihnachtsmann heißt Willi" (1969).
Reschke"s most important film was the contemporary movie "Kennen Sie Urban?". She developed the film in collaboration with the writer Ulrich Plenzdorf. Based on Gisela Karau"s "Berichte aus den 60er Jahren" in the newspaper "BZ am Abend", the film tells the story of ex-convict Hoffi who is looking for his idol, the surveying technician Urban, after his release from prison. With "Kennen Sie Urban?", Ingrid Reschke again proved her talent for turning serious topics into entertaining films. Reschke and Plenzdorf won the Heinrich-Greif-Preis 1. Klasse as well as Kunstpreis des Freien Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbundes for their film.
Based on a scenario by Plenzdorf, Reschke also worked on the source material for "Die Legende von Paul und Paula" ("The Legend of Paul and Paula"). But Ingrid Reschke died on May 9, 1971, from the consequences of a car accident near Postdam before she was able to finish this project.