Aafa or Aafa-Film was a German film production and distribution company which operated during the 1920s and 1930s. Established in 1920 as Radio-Film, the company was controlled by the producer Gabriel Levy and the director Rudolf Dworsky. The company was one of the leading producers of the Weimar Republic, and survived the transition from silent to sound film in 1929.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 57/3. Photo: Aafa Film. Mady Christians and Wilhelm (William) Dieterle in Zopf und Schwert - Die tolle Prinzessin (Victor Janson, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 91/4. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1927) with Maria Paudler and Ernst Verebes.
Harry Liedtke. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3957/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Aafa Film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5384/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Leutnant warst Du einst bei deinen Husaren/Lieutenant were you once with your Hussar (Manfred Noa, 1930) with Mady Christians.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5679/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa-Film. Publicity still for Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm Over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930) with Leni Riefenstahl and Sepp Rist.
The predecessor of Aafa was the Radio Film AG company founded on 2 June 1920. Already on 10 July 1920, the first stock exchange listing took place, and during the year 1921 there was a strong expansion.
The Radio Film AG first took over the companies of Gustav Althoff in Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt a. M., Munich, Wroclaw and Gdansk. Later, the Ambos Film Export Dworsky & Levy KG led by film director and producer Rudolf Dworsky and producer and merchant Gabriel Levy and the company Ambos Film GmbH were added.
As a result of these acquisitions, Radio-Film AG was renamed just one year after its founding and went public again on March 20, 1921 under the new name Aafa stood for Althoff-Ambos-Film AG. According to a stock market listing, the stock was listed on the open market in Hanover. Rudolf Walther-Fein mostly directed and produced the films, Rudolf Dworsky was responsible for the artistic direction and Gabriel Levy was the studio head.
One of the first films produced by Aafa-Film was Nur eine Nacht/Only One Night (Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1922) starring Bruno Eichgrün, Joseph Römer and Olga Engl. It was one of several German silent films featuring the detective Nick Carter.
The company produced a large number of films in the silent film era. Among them were productions with film stars like Maria Paudler, Harry Liedtke and Mady Christians.
Very popular were the films with the Italian strongman Luciano Albertini, like the silent adventure film Rinaldo Rinaldini (Max Obal, Rudolf Dworsky, 1927) in which Albertini co-starred with Olga Engl and Grit Haid. It is an Italian-set Swashbuckler, based on Christian August Vulpius's 1797 novel 'Rinaldo Rinaldini, the Robber Captain'.
Luciano Albertini. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4624/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa-Film.
Max Hansen. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 718. Photo: Aafa / Sascha Film.
Livio Pavanelli. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5154. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Elisabeth Pinajeff. Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5212. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Hans Stüwe. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5781. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Gustav Diessl. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4485/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Hans Casparius, Berlin. Publicity still for Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck, G.W. Pabst, 1929).
Aafa-Film made the first German full sound film - as opposed to part-sound films or silent films with sound added later - Dich hab’ ich geliebt/It's You I Have Loved (Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1929) with Mady Christians and Hans Stüwe. It was a box office hit and was also released in the US.
Aafa then made a multi-language version musical Leutnant, warst du einst bei den Husaren/Lieutenant, Were You Once a Hussar? (1930). Another popular film operetta was Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victo also released in the US.
Aafa then made a multi-language version musical Leut r Janson, 1931) starring Hans-Heinz Bollmann, Jarmila Novotná and Fritz Schulz. The film was based on the 1882 operetta Der Bettelstudent. A British version of the film, The Beggar Student, was also released the same year.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Aafa produced a number of mountain films directed by Arnold Fanck. These were Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1929) with Gustav Diessl and Leni Riefenstahl, Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930), with Sepp Rist and Leni Riefenstahl, and Der weiße Rausch – neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs/The White Ecstasy (Arnold Fanck, 1931), again with Leni Riefenstahl.
Rudolf Dworsky had died after a car accident in 1927 and the Jewish Gabriel Levy led the company until October 1934. His last German production was the Gerhart Hauptmann adaptation Hanneles Himmelfahrt (Thea von Harbou, 1934) with Inge Landgut as Hannele, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as her stepfather.
Aafa also produced the classic Belgian film De Witte/The White (Jan Vanderheyden, 1934) about a smart but naughty farmhand's son (Jefke Bruyninckx) whose eternal mischief, pranks and disobedience drive his elders and classmates to despair.
Hanni Weisse. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3271/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Aafa Film.
Gösta Ekman. German postcard. by Ross Verlag, no. 4034/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa Film.
Vivian Gibson. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4625/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa Film.
Sepp Rist. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5680/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa-Film. Publicity still for Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm Over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930).
Rolf von Goth. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6634/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Aafa-Film / Lindner.
Marta Eggerth. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7096/2, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Kiesel, Berlin / Aafa Film.
Then the National Socialists forcibly disbanded Aafa. There was a forced bankruptcy and Aafa was no longer listed in the manual of German stock companies. The Nazi Party confiscated businesses from Jewish ownership in the course of their Aryanisation measures. This was also part of a wider move which led to production being concentrated in the hands of four major studios: Bavaria, Tobis, Terra and UFA.
Gabriel Levy left Germany in 1935 and settled in the Netherlands. In 1935, he produced the Dutch comedy De kribbebijter/The Cross-Patch (Hermann Kosterlitz a.k.a. Henry Koster, Ernst Winar, 1935) with Cor Ruys.
At the beginning of 1937, he committed the also exiled producer Hermann Millakowsky as Rental Manager of Milo-Films. In 1938, a tax record was issued to Levy and his wife in Berlin for payment of 'Reichsfluchtsteuer' (Reich Flight Tax) in the amount of 44,000 RM.
The 'Reichsfluchtsteuer' was a capital control law implemented by the Weimar Government in order to stem capital flight from the Republic. The tax was used by the Nazis as a 'partial expropriation' of the assets of Jewish refugees who were persecuted and driven to flee their homeland.)
In June 1939, Levy was expatriated from Germany. He was no longer able to continue working as a producer the Netherlands and did not make another film until after the war. Then he produced the comedy Een Koninkrijk voor een huis/A Kingdom for a House (Jaap Speyer, 1948) with Heintje Davids and Johan Kaart. It would be his final film. Gabriel Levy died in Amsterdam in 1965.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 57/2. Photo: Aafa Film. Mady Christians and Wilhelm Dieterle in Zopf und Schwert - Die tolle Prinzessin (Victor Janson, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 128/3. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victor Janson, 1931) with Hans Heinz Bollmann and Fritz Schulz.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 152/4, 1932. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Theodor Körner (Carl Boese, 1932) with Lissi Arna and Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender.
Harry Liedtke. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3125/1. Photo: Aafa Film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7394/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Das blaue vom Himmel/The Blue from the Sky (Victor Janson, 1932) with Margarete Schlegel and Ernst Verebes.
Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 57/3. Photo: Aafa Film. Mady Christians and Wilhelm (William) Dieterle in Zopf und Schwert - Die tolle Prinzessin (Victor Janson, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 91/4. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1927) with Maria Paudler and Ernst Verebes.
Harry Liedtke. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3957/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Aafa Film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5384/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Leutnant warst Du einst bei deinen Husaren/Lieutenant were you once with your Hussar (Manfred Noa, 1930) with Mady Christians.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5679/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa-Film. Publicity still for Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm Over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930) with Leni Riefenstahl and Sepp Rist.
Italian Strongman
The predecessor of Aafa was the Radio Film AG company founded on 2 June 1920. Already on 10 July 1920, the first stock exchange listing took place, and during the year 1921 there was a strong expansion.
The Radio Film AG first took over the companies of Gustav Althoff in Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt a. M., Munich, Wroclaw and Gdansk. Later, the Ambos Film Export Dworsky & Levy KG led by film director and producer Rudolf Dworsky and producer and merchant Gabriel Levy and the company Ambos Film GmbH were added.
As a result of these acquisitions, Radio-Film AG was renamed just one year after its founding and went public again on March 20, 1921 under the new name Aafa stood for Althoff-Ambos-Film AG. According to a stock market listing, the stock was listed on the open market in Hanover. Rudolf Walther-Fein mostly directed and produced the films, Rudolf Dworsky was responsible for the artistic direction and Gabriel Levy was the studio head.
One of the first films produced by Aafa-Film was Nur eine Nacht/Only One Night (Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1922) starring Bruno Eichgrün, Joseph Römer and Olga Engl. It was one of several German silent films featuring the detective Nick Carter.
The company produced a large number of films in the silent film era. Among them were productions with film stars like Maria Paudler, Harry Liedtke and Mady Christians.
Very popular were the films with the Italian strongman Luciano Albertini, like the silent adventure film Rinaldo Rinaldini (Max Obal, Rudolf Dworsky, 1927) in which Albertini co-starred with Olga Engl and Grit Haid. It is an Italian-set Swashbuckler, based on Christian August Vulpius's 1797 novel 'Rinaldo Rinaldini, the Robber Captain'.
Luciano Albertini. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4624/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa-Film.
Max Hansen. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 718. Photo: Aafa / Sascha Film.
Livio Pavanelli. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5154. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Elisabeth Pinajeff. Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5212. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Hans Stüwe. Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5781. Photo: Aafa / Lux Film Verleih.
Gustav Diessl. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4485/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Hans Casparius, Berlin. Publicity still for Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck, G.W. Pabst, 1929).
The first German full sound film
Aafa-Film made the first German full sound film - as opposed to part-sound films or silent films with sound added later - Dich hab’ ich geliebt/It's You I Have Loved (Rudolf Walther-Fein, 1929) with Mady Christians and Hans Stüwe. It was a box office hit and was also released in the US.
Aafa then made a multi-language version musical Leutnant, warst du einst bei den Husaren/Lieutenant, Were You Once a Hussar? (1930). Another popular film operetta was Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victo also released in the US.
Aafa then made a multi-language version musical Leut r Janson, 1931) starring Hans-Heinz Bollmann, Jarmila Novotná and Fritz Schulz. The film was based on the 1882 operetta Der Bettelstudent. A British version of the film, The Beggar Student, was also released the same year.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Aafa produced a number of mountain films directed by Arnold Fanck. These were Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1929) with Gustav Diessl and Leni Riefenstahl, Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930), with Sepp Rist and Leni Riefenstahl, and Der weiße Rausch – neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs/The White Ecstasy (Arnold Fanck, 1931), again with Leni Riefenstahl.
Rudolf Dworsky had died after a car accident in 1927 and the Jewish Gabriel Levy led the company until October 1934. His last German production was the Gerhart Hauptmann adaptation Hanneles Himmelfahrt (Thea von Harbou, 1934) with Inge Landgut as Hannele, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge as her stepfather.
Aafa also produced the classic Belgian film De Witte/The White (Jan Vanderheyden, 1934) about a smart but naughty farmhand's son (Jefke Bruyninckx) whose eternal mischief, pranks and disobedience drive his elders and classmates to despair.
Hanni Weisse. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3271/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Aafa Film.
Gösta Ekman. German postcard. by Ross Verlag, no. 4034/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa Film.
Vivian Gibson. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4625/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Aafa Film.
Sepp Rist. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5680/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Aafa-Film. Publicity still for Stürme über dem Mont Blanc/Storm Over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930).
Rolf von Goth. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6634/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Aafa-Film / Lindner.
Marta Eggerth. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7096/2, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Kiesel, Berlin / Aafa Film.
Aryanisation measures
Then the National Socialists forcibly disbanded Aafa. There was a forced bankruptcy and Aafa was no longer listed in the manual of German stock companies. The Nazi Party confiscated businesses from Jewish ownership in the course of their Aryanisation measures. This was also part of a wider move which led to production being concentrated in the hands of four major studios: Bavaria, Tobis, Terra and UFA.
Gabriel Levy left Germany in 1935 and settled in the Netherlands. In 1935, he produced the Dutch comedy De kribbebijter/The Cross-Patch (Hermann Kosterlitz a.k.a. Henry Koster, Ernst Winar, 1935) with Cor Ruys.
At the beginning of 1937, he committed the also exiled producer Hermann Millakowsky as Rental Manager of Milo-Films. In 1938, a tax record was issued to Levy and his wife in Berlin for payment of 'Reichsfluchtsteuer' (Reich Flight Tax) in the amount of 44,000 RM.
The 'Reichsfluchtsteuer' was a capital control law implemented by the Weimar Government in order to stem capital flight from the Republic. The tax was used by the Nazis as a 'partial expropriation' of the assets of Jewish refugees who were persecuted and driven to flee their homeland.)
In June 1939, Levy was expatriated from Germany. He was no longer able to continue working as a producer the Netherlands and did not make another film until after the war. Then he produced the comedy Een Koninkrijk voor een huis/A Kingdom for a House (Jaap Speyer, 1948) with Heintje Davids and Johan Kaart. It would be his final film. Gabriel Levy died in Amsterdam in 1965.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 57/2. Photo: Aafa Film. Mady Christians and Wilhelm Dieterle in Zopf und Schwert - Die tolle Prinzessin (Victor Janson, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 128/3. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Der Bettelstudent/The Beggar Student (Victor Janson, 1931) with Hans Heinz Bollmann and Fritz Schulz.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 152/4, 1932. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Theodor Körner (Carl Boese, 1932) with Lissi Arna and Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender.
Harry Liedtke. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3125/1. Photo: Aafa Film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7394/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Aafa Film. Publicity still for Das blaue vom Himmel/The Blue from the Sky (Victor Janson, 1932) with Margarete Schlegel and Ernst Verebes.
Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
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