Introduction
Peter Ostermayr (18 July 1882 – 7 May 1967) was a German film producer, screenwriter and film director. Ostermayr was a significant film pioneer during the early years of German cinema. He was the brother of Franz Osten and Ottmar Ostermayr. In 1907 they took over their father's photography business and turned into a film studio. After serving in the First World War he founded a company which later evolved into Bavaria Film, and acquired the Emelka Studios in Munich. While Bavaria went on to become a leading German production company, Ostermayr had left by the mid-1920s and worked at several other studios including the giant UFA.
Following the Second World War he entered independent production, and specialised in heimatfilm. He was made an honorary president of the West German Film Producers' Association. His son was the film director Paul May.
Selected filmography
- Volga Volga (1928)
- The Lady in Black (1928)
- Napoleon at Saint Helena (1929)
- The Peak Scaler (1933)
- Hubertus Castle (1934)
- Militiaman Bruggler (1936)
- The Hunter of Fall (1936)
- Left of the Isar, Right of the Spree (1940)
- Violanta (1942)
- The War of the Oxen (1943)
- The Monastery's Hunter (1953)
- Hubertus Castle (1954)