Volker Schloendorff Biography (1939-)

Born March 31, 1939, in Wiesbaden, Germany; married Margarethe von Trotta (adirector, screenwriter, and actress), 1969 (divorced). Career: Director, screenwriter, and producer. Assistant director to Louis Malle, Jean-PierreMelville, and Alain Resnais, 1960-64; Hallelujah-Film, founder (with Peter Fleischmann), 1969; Bioskop-Film, Munich, West Germany (now Germany), founder(with Reinhard Hauff and Eberhard Junkersdorf), 1973; Studio Babelsberg (production company), chief executive, 1992--. Member: German P.E.N. Centre. Awards, Honors: FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes International Film Festival,and Film Strips in Gold, German Film Awards, outstanding individual achievement in direction and outstanding individual achievement in a screenplay, all 1966, for Der Junge Toerless; Film Strips in Gold, German Film Awards,outstanding individual achievement in direction, 1971, for Der PloetzlicheReichtum der Armen Leute von Kombach, and 1976, for Der Fangschuss; Golden Berlin Bear Award nomination (with others), Berlin International Film Festival, 1978, for Deutschland im Herbst; Golden Palm Award (withApocalypse Now), Cannes International Film Festival, Academy Award, best foreign language film, and Bodil Award, Bodil Festival, best European film, all 1979, for Die Blechtrommel; British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award nomination (with Margaret Menegoz), best foreign language film,1984, for Un amour de Swann; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding director, 1985, for Death of a Salesman; UNICEF Award and Golden Lion Awardnomination, both Venice Film Festival, 1996, for Der Unhold. Addresses: Office: Bioskop-Film, Tuerkenstrasse 91, D-80799 Munich, Germany.;Agent: Sam Cohn, International Creative Management, 40 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Nationality: German
Gender: Male
Occupation: Director, screenwriter, producer
Birth Details: March 31, 1939; Wiesbaden, Germany

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Work
Director, Unless Otherwise Noted
Wer kummert's ... (also known as Who Cares ... ; short film), 1960
Assistant director, Leon Morin, pretre (also known as The Forgiven Sinner and Leon Morin, Priest), Lux Films, 1961
Assistant director, La vie privee (also known as A Very PrivateAffair and Vita privata), Pro Ge Fi/CIPRA/Jacques Bar/CCM, 1961released in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1962
Assistant director, Le doulos (also known as The Finger Manand Lo spione), Rome Paris Films, 1961released in the United States by Pathe, 1964
Assistant director, Mediteranee, [France], 1963
Assistant director, Le feu follet (also known as The Fire Within, A Time to Live and a Time to Die, Will o' the Wisp, andFuoco fatuo), Nouvelles Editions/Arco, 1963released in the United States by Governor, 1964
Assistant director, Viva Maria!, United Artists, 1965
Der Junge Toerless (also known as Young Toerless, YoungTorless, Der Junge Torless, and Les desarrois de l'eleve Torless), Nouvelles Editions, 1966released in the United States by Kanawha, 1968
"Ein Unheimlicher Moment" (also known as "An Uneasy Moment"), Der Paukenspieler, Franz Seitz Filmproduktion, 1967
Mord und Totschlag (also known as A Degree of Murder), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1967released in the United States by Universal, 1969
Michael Kohlhaas--Der Rebell (also known as Man on Horseback and Michael Kohlhaas--The Rebel), Columbia, 1969
Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass (also known as The Moral of Ruth Halbfass), CIC/Paramount/Universal, 1971
(With Margarethe von Trotta) Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum(also known as The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum), Cinema International, 1975
Der Fangschuss (also known as Coup de Grace), Cine-International Filmvertrieb/Almi Cinema V, 1976
(And producer) Nur zum Spass--Nur zum Spiel. Kaleidoskop: Valeska Gert (also known as Just for Fun, Just for Play, Only for Fun--Onlyfor Play, Kaleidoscope: Valeska Gert, Kaleidoscope: Valeska Gert, For Fun--For Play, Kaleidoskop: Valeska Gert, and Valeska Gert; documentary), Bioskop-Film, 1977
(With others) Deutschland im Herbst (also known as Germany in Autumn), Osiris/Filmverlag der Autoren, 1978
Die Blechtrommel (also known as The Tin Drum and Le tambour), New World, 1979
(With Stefan Aust, Alexander von Eschwege, and Alexander Kluge) Der Kandidat (also known as The Candidate; documentary), Bioskop-Film/Kairos/Project Filmproduction, 1980
Die Faelschung (also known as Circle of Deceit, False Witness, The Forgery, Die Falschung, and Le faussaire), United International, 1981
(With Stefan Aust, Alexander Kluge, Heinrich Boll, and Axel Angstfeld) Krieg und Frieden (also known as War and Peace), Filmverlag der Autoren/New Line Cinema, 1983
Un amour de Swann (also known as A Love of Swann, Remembrance of Things Past, Swann in Love, Swann's Way, and Eine Liebe von Swann), Artificial Eye/Gaumont International/Orion Classics,1984
(With others) Vermischte Nachrichten (also known as Odds and Ends), Filmverlag der Autoren, 1987
The Handmaid's Tale (also known as Die Geschichte der Dienerin), Cinecom International, 1990
Pinsky, 1990
Voyager (also known as The Voyager and Homo Faber),Castle Hill Productions, 1992
Associate producer, Une femme francaise (also known as A FrenchWoman, Eine Franzoesische Frau, and Eine Franzosische Frau), D.A. Films/Recorded Pictures Company, 1995
Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le roi des aulnes), Kino International, 1998originally broadcast on television by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 1996
Palmetto (also known as Dumme sterben nicht aus), Columbia,1998
Film Appearances
Mathias Kniessl, Bavaria Film, 1971
Rece do Gory (also known as Hands Up!), [Poland], 1981
Himself, Ich will nicht nur, dass ihr mich liebt (also known as I Don't Just Want You to Love Me; documentary), [Germany], 1993

Television Work
Series
Director (with Gisela Grischow), Billy Wilder, Wie Haben Sie's Gemacht? (also known as Billy, How Did You Do It?), Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Hessicher Rundfunk, and Bayerischer Rundfunk, 1992
Television Appearances
Series
Billy Wilder, Wie Haben Sie's Gemacht? (also known as Billy, How Did You Do It?), Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Hessicher Rundfunk, and Bayerischer Rundfunk, 1992
Television Work
Director; Movies
Der Ploetzliche Reichtum der Armen Leute von Kombach (also known as The Sudden Fortune of the Poor People of Kombach, The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach, and Der Plotzliche Reichtum der Armen Leute von Kombach), Hessischer Rundfunk, 1970
Strohfeuer (also known as A Free Woman, Strawfire, and Summer Lightning), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1971
A Gathering of Old Men (also known as Murder on the Bayou, Ein Aufstand alter Maenner, and Ein Aufstand alter Manner), CBS, 1987
Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le roi des aulnes), Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 1996released as a feature film by Kino International, 1998
Director; Specials
Baal, [West Germany (now Germany)], 1970
Uebernachtung in Tirol (also known as Overnight in Tirol, Overnight Stay in the Tyrol, and Ubernachtung in Tirol), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1974
Georginas Gruende (also known as Georgina's Reasons, Georginas Grunde, and Les raisons de Georgina), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1975
Death of a Salesman, CBS, 1985broadcast in West Germany (now Germany) as Der Tod Eines Handlungsreisenden, 1986
The Michael Nyman Songbook, Hessischer Rundfunk, 1992
Television Appearances
Specials
Private Conversations: On the Set of Death of a Salesman, PBS, 1986
(Uncredited) Himself, Die Nacht der Regisseure (also known as The Night of the Filmmakers), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, 1995
Stage Work
Director
Katja Kabanova (opera), Frankfurt, West Germany (now Germany), 1974
Wir erreichen den Fluss (opera), West Berlin, West Germany (now Berlin, Germany), 1976
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, National Theatre, Munich, Germany, 1994
WRITINGS
Screenplays
(With Herbert Asmodi) Der Junge Toerless (also known as Young Toerless, Young Torless, Der Junge Torless, and Les desarrois de l'eleve Torless; based on the novel Die Verwirrungen des Zoeglings Toerless, by Robert Musil), Nouvelles Editions, 1966released in theUnited States by Kanawha, 1968
"Ein Unheimlicher Moment" (also known as "An Uneasy Moment"), Der Paukenspieler, Franz Seitz Filmproduktion, 1967
(With Gregor von Rezzori, Niklas Franz, and Arne Boyer) Mord und Totschlag (also known as A Degree of Murder), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1967released in the United States by Universal, 1969
(With Edward Bond, Heinrich von Kleist, and Clement Biddle Wood) Michael Kohlhaas--Der Rebell (also known as Man on Horseback and Michael Kohlhaas--The Rebel; based on a novel by Heinrich von Kleist), Columbia, 1969
Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass (also known as The Moral of Ruth Halbfass), CIC/Paramount/Universal, 1971
(With Margarethe von Trotta) Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum(also known as The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, based on the novel by Heinrich Boll), Cinema International, 1975
Nur zum Spass--Nur zum Spiel. Kaleidoskop: Valeska Gert (also known as Just for Fun, Just for Play, Only for Fun--Only for Play, Kaleidoscope: Valeska Gert, Kaleidoscope: Valeska Gert, For Fun--For Play, Kaleidoskop: Valeska Gert, and Valeska Gert; documentary), Bioskop-Film, 1977
(With Franz Seitz, Jean-Claude Carriere, and Gunter Grass) Die Blechtrommel (also known as The Tin Drum and Le tambour; based thenovel Die Blechtrommel, by Gunter Grass), New World, 1979
Der Kandidat (also known as The Candidate; documentary), Bioskop-Film/Kairos/Project Filmproduction, 1980
(With Margarethe von Trotta, Kai Hermann, and Jean-Claude Carriere) Die Faelschung (also known as Circle of Deceit, False Witness, The Forgery, Die Falschung, and Le faussaire; based ona novel by Nicolas Born), United International, 1981
(With Stefan Aust, Alexander Kluge, Heinrich Boll, and Axel Angstfeld) Krieg und Frieden (also known as War and Peace; based on the novel Standpoint of the Infantry, by Alexander Kluge), Filmverlag der Autoren/New Line Cinema, 1983
(With Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, and Marie-Helene Estienne) Unamour de Swann (also known as A Love of Swann, Remembrance ofThings Past, Swann in Love, Swann's Way, and Eine Liebevon Swann; based on Remembrance of Things Past, by Marcel Proust),Artificial Eye/Gaumont International/Orion Classics, 1984
(With Rudy Wurlitzer) Voyager (also known as The Voyager and Homo Faber; based on the novel Homo Faber, by Max Frisch), Castle Hill Productions, 1992
(With Jean-Claude Carriere) Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le roi des aulnes; based on the novel Le roi des aulnes, by Michel Tournier), Kino International, 1998originally broadcast on television by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 1996
Teleplays
Movies
(With Margarethe von Trotta) Der Ploetzliche Reichtum der Armen Leutevon Kombach (also known as The Sudden Fortune of the Poor People of Kombach, The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach, and DerPlotzliche Reichtum der Armen Leute von Kombach), Hessischer Rundfunk, 1970
Strohfeuer (also known as A Free Woman, Strawfire, and Summer Lightning), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1971
(With Jean-Claude Carriere) Der Unhold (also known as The Ogre and Le roi des aulnes; based on the novel Le roi des aulnes, by Michel Tournier), Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 1996released as a feature filmby Kino International, 1998
Specials
Baal, [West Germany (now Germany)], 1970
Uebernachtung in Tirol (also known as Overnight in Tirol, Overnight Stay in the Tyrol, and Ubernachtung in Tirol), [West Germany (now Germany)], 1974

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Interview, March 1990, p. 22.*

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