German directors have a rich and varied history, which spans the entire 20th century and reaches the present day. Among them there are some of the most important directors of all time. In this article, we will retrace the key milestones of this journey, from the beginnings of silent cinema to the latest trends in contemporary cinema.
The Beginnings of German Directors
The origins of German directors date back to the 1910s. The first German directors, such as Max Skladanowsky and Oskar Messter, were pioneers in the experimentation of new filming and editing techniques. Their films, often documentaries or short films, were characterized by a strong realism and attention to detail.
In 1913, with the production of the film Nosferatu the Vampire, by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German cinema began to acquire its own identity. The film, a visionary and disturbing work, is considered one of the masterpieces of German expressionist cinema.
Expressionist Cinema
German expressionist cinema, developed in the 1920s, is one of the most important cinematic movements of the 20th century. Characterized by an aesthetic rich in symbols and metaphors, German expressionist cinema explored themes such as madness, fear, and loneliness.
The most important directors of German expressionist cinema were Robert Wiene, Fritz Lang, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, and Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Their films, such as Metropolis (1927), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and Nosferatu the Vampire (1922), are still considered classics of world cinema today.
German Directors and Sound Cinema
The advent of sound cinema in the 1930s had a profound impact on German cinema. Many German directors, such as Fritz Lang and Marlene Dietrich, emigrated to the United States to continue their careers.
In German cinema of this period, directors such as Georg Wilhelm Pabst, who continued to explore social and political themes, and Leni Riefenstahl, who made propaganda films for the Nazi regime, stood out.
German Directors in Post-war
After World War II, German cinema had to rebuild itself from the rubble. The directors of this period, such as Wolfgang Staudte and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, addressed themes such as war, guilt, and memory.
In the 1960s, German cinema was characterized by a creative ferment that led to a new movement, the New German Cinema. The directors of the New German Cinema, such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and Wim Wenders, experimented with new forms of narration and addressed themes such as politics, society, and culture.
German Directors in Contemporary cinema
Contemporary German cinema is a rich and varied cinema, ranging from genre films to auteur films. Among the most important German directors of this period are Michael Haneke, Fatih Akin, Maren Ade, and Christian Petzold.
List of great German directors
German cinema has a rich and fascinating history that has helped to shape the world of cinema. German directors are always been at the forefront of innovation, exploring new themes and techniques.
Max Skladanowsky
Max Skladanowsky (30 aprile 1863 – 30 novembre 1939) è stato un inventore e regista tedesco. Insieme a suo fratello Emil, inventò il bioscopio, un primo proiettore cinematografico che i fratelli Skladanowsky usarono per riprodurre i primi spettacoli di film al mondo.
Skladanowsky nacque a Berlino, in Germania, nel 1863. Suo padre era un vetraio e suo fratello Emil era un fotografo. Skladanowsky iniziò a lavorare come vetraio, ma in seguito si interessò alla fotografia.
Nel 1894, i fratelli Skladanowsky iniziarono a lavorare a un proiettore cinematografico. Il loro bioscopio era un dispositivo semplice ma efficace. Utilizzava una serie di lenti per proiettare le immagini su uno schermo.
Il 1 novembre 1895, i fratelli Skladanowsky tennero il primo spettacolo di film al mondo al Wintergarten di Berlino. Lo spettacolo presentava una serie di brevi filmati, tra cui “Boxing”, “Serpentina Dance” e “Komisches Reck”.
Skladanowsky e suo fratello continuarono a produrre film per diversi anni. Nel 1896, realizzarono il primo film girato in Svezia, “Eine lustige Gesellschaft vor dem Tivoli in Stockholm”.
I fratelli Skladanowsky furono pionieri della cinematografia. Il loro bioscopio fu uno dei primi proiettori cinematografici pratici e i loro film furono tra i primi film mai realizzati.
Oskar Messter
Oskar Messter (November 21, 1866 – December 6, 1943) was a German inventor and pioneer of cinema. He was one of the first to produce and distribute films in Germany.
Messter was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1866. He began his career as a photographer and then began experimenting with moving photography. In 1896 he invented his own motion picture projector, the Bioskop. The Bioskop was one of the first practical motion picture projectors and was used to project the first films in Germany.
Messter also founded a motion picture production company, Messter Film GmbH. Messter Film GmbH produced a number of successful films, including “Rapunzel” (1897), “Der Liebesbrief der Königin” (1906), and “Das wandernde Licht” (1916). Messter was also a pioneer in the field of technical cinematography. He developed a number of innovations, including a sound recording system and a color projection system.
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, also known as F. W. Murnau, was a German-American filmmaker who is widely considered one of the most influential and important directors in the history of cinema. He was born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe in Bielefeld, Germany, on December 28, 1888. He began his career as a journalist and stage actor before moving into filmmaking in 1912.
Murnau’s early films were heavily influenced by German Expressionism, a style of filmmaking that used distorted sets, exaggerated lighting, and extreme angles to create a nightmarish or dreamlike atmosphere. Some of his most famous Expressionist films include Nosferatu (1922), a vampire film based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a thriller about a sleepwalking somnambulist who is used as a hypnotised.
In the mid-1920s, Murnau moved to Hollywood, where he made a series of innovative films that were more stylistically diverse than his expressionist works. These films included Aurora: A Song of Two Souls (1927), a romantic tragedy set in the American Midwest, and Tabu (1931), a semi-documentary about Polynesian peoples.
Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential directors of German Expressionist cinema.
Wiene was born in Breslau, Germany, on April 27, 1873. He began his career as a stage actor and film actor, before moving into directing in 1913.
His early films were of a melodramatic genre, at least up until 1920. In that year, Wiene directed the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, considered one of the masterpieces of German Expressionist cinema. The film is set in a dystopian German city and tells the story of a young man who is accused of murder by a hypnotist, Dr. Caligari.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a revolutionary film for its use of Expressionism. The sets are distorted and angular, the lighting is dramatic, and the framing is bold. The film is an allegory of the nature of madness and the power of illusion.
Subsequently, Wiene directed other important Expressionist films, including The Hands of Orlac (1920), The Death of a Star (1921), and Raskolnikov (1923).
Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang was an Austrian-born American filmmaker who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential directors in the history of cinema. He is best known for his groundbreaking work in German Expressionist cinema during the 1920s, including Metropolis (1927) and M (1931), and for his suspenseful Hollywood noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Big Heat (1953) and The Woman in the Window (1944).
Lang was born in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, 1890, to a middle-class family. He developed an interest in filmmaking at an early age and began making short films in his teens. In 1913, he moved to Germany to pursue a career in cinema.
Lang’s early films were influenced by German Expressionism, a style of filmmaking that used distorted sets, exaggerated lighting, and exaggerated angles to create a nightmarish or dreamlike atmosphere. Some of his most notable Expressionist films include Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), and Metropolis (1927).
Metropolis was a groundbreaking science fiction film that explored the themes of class conflict and social inequality. It was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time and was a critical and commercial success. It is considered one of the most important films in the history of cinema.
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst was an Austrian-born German and French filmmaker who is considered one of the most important and influential directors of German Expressionism and the New German Cinema. He is best known for his early Expressionist films, such as The Joyless Street (1925), and his later social-realist films, such as Pandora’s Box (1929) and Die Dreigroschenoper (1931).
Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, on August 25, 1885. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Vienna, but he soon became interested in filmmaking. He began working as an assistant director in 1911 and made his directorial debut in 1914 with the short film The Cabaret. Pabst’s early films were influenced by German Expressionism, a style of filmmaking that used distorted sets, exaggerated lighting, and extreme angles to create a nightmarish or dreamlike atmosphere.
Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) was a German film director, actress, and photographer who is best known for her propaganda films commissioned by the Nazi Party. She was a pioneer in the use of cinematography, editing, and lighting to create powerful and visually stunning films.
Riefenstahl’s most famous films include Triumph des Willens (1935), which documents the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, and Olympia (1938), which chronicles the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. These films were praised for their technical achievements, but they were also condemned for their use of propaganda to glorify the Nazi Party and its ideology.
After the war, Riefenstahl was banned from filmmaking for several years. She continued to make films, but her work was never as successful as it had been in the 1930s. She also published several books and documentaries, including The Last of the Nuba (1974), which documented the lives of a tribe in Sudan.
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German-American film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s.
Sirk began his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for Hollywood in 1937 after his Jewish wife was persecuted by the Nazis. His early American films were conventional comedies and dramas, but in the 1950s, he began to make melodramas that were both popular and critically acclaimed.
Sirk’s melodramas are characterized by their over-the-top emotions, flamboyant style, and exploration of social issues such as class, gender, and race. His most famous films include:
- All That Heaven Allows (1955), a story of a widow who falls in love with a younger man
- Written on the Wind (1956), a tale of a wealthy family in Texas
- Imitation of Life (1959), a remake of a 1934 film about a white woman and a black woman who form a friendship
- Magnificent Obsession (1954), a story of a man who is healed and then becomes obsessed with helping others
- Tender Is the Night (1962), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel about a psychiatrist who falls in love with a woman who is married to his patient
Sirk’s films were initially dismissed by critics as “women’s pictures,” but they have since been reevaluated and recognized for their artistry and social commentary. He is now considered one of the most important and influential directors in American cinema.
Wolfgang Staudte
Wolfgang Staudte was a German film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is considered one of the most important German filmmakers of the post-war era.
Staudte was born in Saarbrücken, Germany, in 1906. He began his career as a stage actor, and appeared in a number of films in the 1930s. After World War II, Staudte directed a series of films that explored the theme of German guilt for the war.
His most famous films include:
- Die Mörder sind unter uns (The Murderers Are Among Us, 1946), which tells the story of a former German soldier who tries to reintegrate into society after the war.
- Die letzte Chance (The Last Chance, 1945), which tells the story of a group of German prisoners of war who try to escape.
- Rotation (Rotation, 1949), which tells the story of a group of workers who struggle to improve their working conditions.
Staudte continued to direct films until his death in 1984. His films were praised for their honesty and their commitment to tackling important social issues.
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (born 8 December 1935) is a German film director, playwright, and writer. He is best known for his epic and controversial films, many of which focus on German history and culture.
Syberberg was born in Nossendorf, Pomerania, Germany, and studied philosophy and theater at the University of Munich. He began his career in theater in the early 1960s, and directed his first film, Fünfter Akt, Siebte Szene (Fifth Act, Seventh Scene), in 1965. His breakthrough came in 1972 with the release of Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King, a nine-hour film about the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The film was praised for its ambition and originality, but also criticized for its length and experimental style.
Syberberg’s subsequent films included Karl May (1974), a seven-hour exploration of the life of the German adventure novelist; Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977), a 24-hour-long examination of the life of Adolf Hitler; and Die Macht der Bilder (The Power of Images) (1989), a six-hour collage of historical and cultural footage.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982) was a German filmmaker, actor, playwright, composer, and editor. He is considered one of the most influential and prolific figures in German cinema and world cinema.
Fassbinder was born in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria, on 31 May 1945. He grew up in Munich, where he was exposed to the city’s vibrant theater and cabaret scene. He began his career in theater in the early 1960s, and he made his feature film debut with Love is the Devil (1969).
Fassbinder’s early films were characterized by their exploration of social and political issues, as well as their experimental and often dark style. He quickly established himself as a controversial and innovative filmmaker.
In the 1970s, Fassbinder’s films became more ambitious and personal. He began to explore themes of sexuality, gender, and class, and he developed a distinctive style that was characterized by its use of long takes, extreme close-ups, and handheld camerawork.
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (born September 5, 1942) is a German filmmaker, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director. He is considered one of the most important figures in German cinema and world cinema, and his work has been praised for its originality, visual style, and philosophical depth.
Born in Munich, Germany, Herzog was raised in a Catholic family. He studied acting and philosophy at the University of Munich, but left after a year to pursue filmmaking. His early films were characterized by their experimental nature and their focus on the fringes of society.
In the 1970s, Herzog began to make more ambitious films, such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), a historical drama set in the Amazon rainforest, and Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), a re-imagining of the classic vampire tale. These films established Herzog’s reputation as a filmmaker with a unique vision and a willingness to push the boundaries of filmmaking.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Herzog continued to make a series of critically acclaimed films, including Fitzcarraldo (1982), a historical drama about a rubber baron who tries to build an opera house in the Amazon rainforest, and Grizzly Man (2005), a documentary about the life of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived among grizzly bears in Alaska.
Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders (born August 10, 1945) is a German filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and photographer. He is considered one of the most important figures in German cinema and world cinema. His work is known for its exploration of alienation, spirituality, and the human condition. He is a pioneer of the New German Cinema movement and has made films in a variety of genres, including drama, documentary, and science fiction.
Wenders was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1945. He studied philosophy and literature at the University of Freiburg and began making films in the early 1960s. His early films were characterized by their experimental nature and their focus on the fringes of society.
In the 1970s, Wenders emerged as one of the leading figures of the New German Cinema movement. This movement was characterized by its rejection of the traditional Hollywood style and its exploration of contemporary German culture.
Edgar Reitz
Edgar Reitz (born November 1, 1932) is a German filmmaker, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for his epic television miniseries Heimat (1984–2004), which is considered one of the most important works of German television. Reitz is also a co-founder of the Institute for Film Design in Karlsruhe.
Reitz was born in Morbach, Germany, in 1932. He studied German literature and philosophy at the University of Freiburg, and then began his career in filmmaking in the 1960s. His early films were characterized by their experimental nature and their focus on the fringes of society.
Reitz’s breakthrough came in 1984 with the first installment of Heimat, a ten-part miniseries about a fictional village in the Hunsrück region of Germany. The series was a critical and commercial success, and it helped to establish Reitz as one of the leading figures of German cinema.
Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke (born August 27, 1942) is an Austrian filmmaker, screenwriter, and composer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and controversial directors of his generation. His films are often bleak, unsettling, and deeply disturbing, but they are also intellectually stimulating and visually stunning. Haneke is known for his exploration of themes such as violence, alienation, and the decline of the human condition. He is also a master of suspense and tension, and his films are often marked by long, unbroken takes and a minimalist style.
Haneke was born in Munich, West Germany, to Austrian parents. He studied philosophy and theater at the University of Vienna, and then began his career in filmmaking in the 1970s. His early films were experimental and often difficult to watch, but they attracted attention from critics and festival audiences.
Haneke’s breakthrough came in 1997 with the release of Funny Games, a suspenseful psychological thriller about two young men who terrorize a family in their vacation home. The film was praised for its originality and its exploration of violence, but it also caused controversy for its graphic depiction of torture.
Fatih Akin
Fatih Akin is a German-Turkish film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor born on August 25, 1973 in Hamburg, Germany.
Akin was born to Turkish parents and raised in Germany. He began making films in the early 1990s and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most talented directors of his generation.
Akin’s films often explore themes of identity, culture, and integration. His films are often characterized by a strong visual component and an engaging narrative.
Akin has won numerous awards for his work, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Head-On (2004) and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director for Soul Kitchen (2009).
Maren Ade
Maren Ade is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer born on December 12, 1976, in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Ade studied film at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich and began her directing career with short films and documentaries. Her first feature film, The Forest for the Trees (2003), won the award for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Her second film, Everyone Else (2009), was a critical and commercial success, winning numerous awards, including the award for Best Direction at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film tells the story of two couples who meet in a German village.
Her third film, Toni Erdmann (2016), was another success, winning the award for Best Direction at the Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of a father who tries to reconnect with his adult daughter by dressing up as a clown.
Christian Petzold
Christian Petzold is a German film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style and exploration of social and historical themes. Born in Hilden, Germany, in 1960, Petzold studied German and drama at the Freie Universität Berlin before enrolling in the German Academy for Film and Television (DFFB) in Berlin.
Petzold’s early films, such as Die Innere Sicherheit (1998) and Die andere Heimat (2004), established his reputation for gritty realism and nuanced portrayals of individuals navigating complex social and political landscapes. He gained wider recognition with Barbara (2012), a critically acclaimed drama set in East Germany during the Cold War, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Petzold’s subsequent films, including Phoenix (2014) and Transit (2018), further cemented his position as a leading figure in contemporary German cinema. These works often feature strong female protagonists and explore themes of identity, displacement, and the legacy of history.
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Oliver Hirschbiegel is a German film director, producer, and screenwriter born on December 29, 1957, in Hagen, Germany.
Hirschbiegel studied history and politics at the Freie Universität Berlin before enrolling at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) to study film directing. His early films, such as Der Untergang (2004) and Downfall (2004) in English, established his reputation for his realistic portrayal of history and conflict. He gained wider recognition with Das Experiment (2001), a psychological thriller based on a real-life social experiment, which won the award for Best Foreign Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Hirschbiegel’s subsequent films, including Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008) and The Counterfeiters (2007), further cemented his position as a leading figure in contemporary German cinema. These works often explore themes of power, oppression, and resistance.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the 2006 drama thriller Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Donnersmarck was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1973. He studied philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford before attending the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) to study film directing.
His first feature film, Der Untergang (Downfall), was released in 2004. The film was a fictionalized account of the last days of Adolf Hitler in the Führerbunker. It was a critical and commercial success, and it established Donnersmarck as a rising star in German cinema.
Wolfgang Becker
Wolfgang Becker is a German film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the 2003 comedy-drama film Good Bye, Lenin!, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Becker was born in Hemer, Germany, in 1954. He studied film and television at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF München). His early films, such as Kinderspiele (Children’s Play) (1992) and Das Leben ist eine Baustelle (Life Is a Construction Site) (1997), established his reputation for quirky humor and social commentary.
Becker’s breakthrough came with Good Bye, Lenin! in 2003. The film tells the story of a young East German man who must keep his mother from knowing that the Berlin Wall has fallen. It was praised for its humor, its emotional resonance, and its portrayal of the fall of the Berlin Wall from a personal perspective. The film won numerous awards, including the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work in the New German Cinema movement of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as for directing the 1981 film The Tin Drum, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Schlöndorff was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1939. He studied law and philosophy at the University of Freiburg before attending the University of Munich to study film. His early films, such as Young Törless (1974) and The Tin Drum (1979), were known for their exploration of taboo subjects and their unconventional filmmaking techniques.
Schlöndorff’s breakthrough came with The Tin Drum in 1981. The film is an adaptation of Günter Grass’s novel of the same name, and it tells the story of a young boy who refuses to grow up as a way of protest against the Nazi regime. The film was praised for its visual style, its performances, and its complex exploration of the themes of war and childhood. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Hans-Christian Schmid
Hans-Christian Schmid (born 19 August 1965) is a German film director and screenwriter. He is known for his socially conscious films that explore themes of youth, alienation, and social issues. Schmid’s films have been praised for their realism, their sensitive portrayal of characters, and their exploration of complex social issues.
Schmid was born in Altötting, Bavaria, Germany. He studied film at the University of Television and Film Munich. His early films, such as Nach Fünf im Urwald (1995) and 23 (1998), were made on a low budget and were praised for their gritty realism and their depiction of the lives of young people in Germany.
In the early 2000s, Schmid began to make more mainstream films, such as Crazy (2000) and Requiem (2006). These films were still socially conscious, but they were also more commercially successful. Schmid’s most recent films, such as Was bleibt (2012) and Wir sind dann wohl die Angehörigen (2022), continue to explore social issues, but they also delve into more personal themes.
