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Marcel Mettelsiefen

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Marcel Mettelsiefen
Mettelsiefen in 2022
Born1978 (age 45–46)
Munich, West Germany
Occupation(s)Documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, producer
Years active2012–present
Notable workWatani: My Homeland, Children of The Taliban, In Her Hands

Marcel Mettelsiefen (born 1978) is a German documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and producer. His documentaries have earned him critical appraisal and recognition. Among others, he has won four BAFTA awards and four Emmy awards, and was nominated for an Oscar in 2017 for Watani: My Homeland in the category of Best Documentary Short. In 2023, he won two BAFTA's for Children of the Taliban. In the same year, In Her Hands, was nominated for three Emmy awards, and won the award for Outstanding Politics & Government Documentary.

Mettelsiefen has a background in photo journalism and has reported from across the Middle East and Afghanistan, and South America. He is the co-founder of the magazine Zenith, one of the leading publications about the Middle East and the Arab world in Germany, and is a founding member of the German non-for-profit organization Candid Foundation.

Mettelsiefen studied political science and medicine at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Since transitioning into filmmaking he has evolved from a war zone photojournalist to an award-winning documentary filmmaker.[1]

Career

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Mettelsiefen was born in Munich to a German father and an Ecuadorian mother and began taking photographs after graduating from high school. He came to photojournalism through his work for the magazine Zenith – Zeitschrift für den Orient, founded in 1998.

In early 2000, he traveled to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, photographing for the Associated Press news agency. After his return, he began working for the news German Press news agency, for which he reported from crisis areas such as Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003) and Haiti (2004).

In addition to his work as a photographer, Mettelsiefen studied politics and medicine at the FU Berlin. In 2008, he went to Afghanistan for 14 months, where he started a cooperation with Spiegel correspondent Christoph Reuter from Kabul.[2]

At the beginning of the Arab Spring, Mettelsiefen traveled to the besieged areas in Egypt and Libya for the news magazine Der Spiegel. From 2011 to 2014, he travelled undercover to Syria more than 28 times and produced numerous reports and short documentaries for which he received numerous international awards, including the Emmy Award, Bafta, Grierson and the Dupont Award.[3]

One of Mettelsiefen's best-known films is the short documentary Watani: My Homeland, which tells the story of children in war-torn Syria. Over a period of three years, Marcel documented the life of a Syrian mother and her four young children in the besieged city of Aleppo. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 2017 and won a Peabody Award, a Grierson Award, and an Emmy Award, among others.[4]

Mettelsiefen in 2015

In his four-part documentary series "Afghanistan – The Wounded Land", Mettelsiefen weaves together unseen archival footage with first-hand testimonials from those who have endured the tragic events of the last 50 years in Afghanistan. In a 360-degree approach, he lets various actors have their say. CIA agents, Soviet generals, Afghan warlords, but above all many strong Afghan women.[5]

BAFTA[6]- winning Children of the Taliban followed a cinematic account of the lives of children in Afghanistan told through the lens and stories of four young children.[7]

His latest feature documentary, In Her Hands premiered to great acclaim on the opening weekend of the Toronto Film Festival 2022 and was sold to Netflix. "In Her Hands".[8][9]

Filmography

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  • 2023 A Second Shot
  • 2022 Children of the Taliban
  • 2022 In Her Hands
  • 2022 Tanja
  • 2021 I Want My Country Back
  • 2020 El conserje
  • 2019 Afghanistan – The Wounded Land
  • 2019 Cajun Navy
  • 2016 Watani: My Homeland (Documentary short)
  • 2016 Slum Britain: 50 Years On (TV Movie documentary)
  • 2016 Children on the Frontline: The Escape (TV Movie documentary)
  • 2014–2016 Frontline (TV Series documentary) (2 episodes)
  • 2014 Unreported World (TV Series documentary) (1 episode)
  • 2014 Syria: Children on the Frontline (TV Movie documentary)

Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ Europe, Canon. "Marcel Mettelsiefen – Canon Ambassadors". Canon Europe. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Marcel Mettelsiefen". Akademie Schloss Solitude. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  3. ^ ""Syria Changed My Life:" An Interview with Marcel Mettelsiefen". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  4. ^ Watani: My Homeland (2016) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via m.imdb.com.
  5. ^ "Afghanistan: The Wounded Land | PBS America | UK". www.pbsamerica.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. ^ "CURRENT AFFAIRS - CHILDREN OF THE TALIBAN". www.bafta.org. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  7. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (15 December 2022). "Children of the Taliban review – this beautiful documentary is an absolute must-watch". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  8. ^ https://www.netflix.com/title/81521475 [bare URL]
  9. ^ Ayazi, Tamana; Mettelsiefen, Marcel (16 November 2022), In Her Hands (Documentary), Zarifa Ghafari, HiddenLight Productions, Moondogs, Propagate, retrieved 21 June 2024
  10. ^ "News 2023 Nominees (Documentaries) - The Emmys". theemmys.tv. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  11. ^ "News 2023 Nominees (Documentaries) - The Emmys". theemmys.tv. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  12. ^ "News 2023 Nominees (Documentaries) - The Emmys". theemmys.tv. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  13. ^ "CURRENT AFFAIRS - CHILDREN OF THE TALIBAN". www.bafta.org. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  14. ^ "CURRENT AFFAIRS - CHILDREN OF THE TALIBAN". www.bafta.org. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  15. ^ "The 89th Academy Awards | 2017". www.oscars.org. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  16. ^ "2015 Television Current Affairs | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  17. ^ "2015 Television Current Affairs | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
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