Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | |
|---|---|
| File:Graf Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.jpg | |
| Born | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| Years active | 1996 - present |
| Spouse | Christiane von Donnersmarck |
Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (b. May 2 1973, Cologne) is an Academy Award-winning German director and screenwriter.
Personal life
He grew up in New York, Brussels, Frankfurt and West Berlin and speaks English, German, French, Russian and Italian fluently. After graduating from high school top of his year, he studied Russian Literature in Leningrad for two years and passed the Soviet State Exam for Teachers of Russian as a Foreign Language. Florian holds an MA Oxon from his studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University (New College). He also holds a Diploma in Film Directing from the University of Television and Film Munich.
Florian is the son of Leo-Ferdinand Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck, a former President of the German division of the Order of Malta and Anna Maria von Berg. He holds Austrian as well as German citizenships, although he has never lived in Austria. He is the younger brother of Sebastian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck. His uncle, Gregor Henckel-Donnersmarck, is a Cistercian abbot. To write the first draft of Das Leben der Anderen, he spent a month at Heiligenkreuz Abbey in the Vienna Woods, which is led by his uncle.
Florian and his wife, Christiane (née Asschenfeldt), have three children: Lara Cosima (born in 2003), Leo Sylvester (born in 2005) and Alexis Jaguar (born in 2007). They live in Los Angeles, where Florian is writing an English-language screenplay. He is very tall, standing 2.05 m (6' 9").[1]
Work
In 1996, he won a directing internship with Richard Attenborough on In Love and War, and then went to study at the Fiction Directing Class of the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (University of Television and Film Munich), Germany, alma mater of directors as diverse as Wim Wenders and Roland Emmerich.
His feature film Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) won the European Film Award for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Screenplay in 2006. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck went on to win the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's award for Best Foreign Film, was nominated for the Golden Globe (which went to Clint Eastwood instead), and on February 25 2007 won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In June 2007, Henckel von Donnersmarck was invited to join AMPAS.[2]
Filmography
- 2005 – Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - writer/director, co-producer
- 1999 – Dobermann - writer/director, producer, editor
Awards
- 2007 - Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for The Lives of Others
- 2006 – European Film Awards for The Lives of Others
- Best Film
- Best Screenplay
- 2006 – Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Award) for Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)
- Best Direction
- Best Screenplay
- 2000 – Universal Studios Germany, Shocking Shorts Award for Dobermann
- Best Short Film
- 2000 – Max Ophüls-Preis for Dobermann
- Best Short Film
Honours
Commander of the Bavarian Order of Merit
Commander of the Northrhine-Westfalian Order of Merit
Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Literature
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: Das Leben der anderen. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-518-45786-1
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: Das Leben der anderen. Geschwärzte Ausgabe. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 3-518-45908-2
Notes
Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as 'Count', not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919. When asked by talk show host Michael Naumann if he wanted to be addressed as "Your Highness Count Henckel von Donnersmarck", von Donnersmarck replied that, following the example of Richard Freiherr von Weizsäcker, (who wanted to be referred to only as "Mr. von Weizsäcker", although he was a Baron), he was happy to be called "Mr. von Donnersmarck" on formal occasions.
References
External links
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck at IMDb
- Biography and Interview in German Films Quarterly
- photographs of Donnersmarck on official site
- Interview in indieWIRE