Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (b. May 2 1973, Cologne) is an Academy Award-winning Austrian and German director and screenwriter.
He grew up in New York, Brussels, Frankfurt and West Berlin and speaks American English with virtually no accent. He studied Russian in St. Petersburg, and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University (New College).
In 1996, he worked as an intern for Richard Attenborough on In Love and War before going on to study at the prestigious Directing Class of the University of Television and Film in 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.
Filmography
- 2005 – Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - director, writer, co-producer
- 2001 – Der Templer (The Crusader) - co-director
- 1999 – Dobermann - director, writer, producer
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
Family
Florian is the son of Leo-Ferdinand Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck and Anna Maria von Berg. He is the younger brother of Sebastian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck. His uncle, Gregor Henckel-Donnersmarck is a Cistercian abbot. During preparation for Das Leben der Anderen, he spent a few weeks at the Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria, which is led by his uncle.
Florian and his wife Christiane (née Asschenfeldt) have two children: Lara Cosima Gräfin Henckel von Donnersmarck (born in 2003) and Leo Sylvester Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (born in 2005).
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
Trivia
According to IMDb he stands 6'9".
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.
External links
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck at IMDb
- Biography and Interview in German Films Quarterly
- Donnersmarck responds to criticism in "The Evening Class"
- Interview in indieWIRE