In memoriam Ron Holloway (1933-2009)

The film historian and film critic Ronald Holloway is dead. Born in Illinois in 1933, he lived in Europe since 1968, first in Paris, then in Hamburg, and finally with his wife, actress Dorothea Moritz-Holloway, in Berlin. Together with her, he published the journal "KINO German Film" since 1979, which, in addition to a continuous chronicle of the German film, offered an overview of current festival events - not only from Berlin, Cannes or Venice but also from many less popular ones nevertheless forming indispensable places for the perception of filmmakers and film culture. Made without institutional support, and distributed by Ron and Dorothea at festivals free of charge, it remains an extraordinary testimony of filmpublicistic devotion. In his main job Holloway worked for magazines such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Moving Pictures International and The International Film Guide. In addition to German cinema, Holloway's special interest was in the cinema of Eastern Europe, to which he devoted a number of books and a comprehensive database. From this engagement came also cinematic portraits of the directors Elem Klimov and Sergej Paradjanov.

Holloway was ordained a Catholic priest in Chicago in 1959, where he co-founded the National Center for Film Study. He earned his doctorate in Protestant Theology at the University of Hamburg with his study "Beyond the Image. Approaches to the Religious Dimension in the Cinema", which he published in 1977 with the support of the World Council of Churches. His ecclesiastical, theological and ecumenical background was continued by his collaboration with the International Church Film Organization INTERFILM, whose honorary member he was. He was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz and the Berlinale Camera, thus reminding also of his collaboration in the selection committee of the 1977-1979 festival. Anyone who knew Ron Holloway was impressed by his superior knowledge and clear judgment, and deeply touched by his personal gentleness. He died on 16 December 2009 of cancer.

 

Link: Obituary by James M. Wall