Wolfgang Becker (director, born 1954)
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Wolfgang Becker (22 June 1954 – 12 December 2024) was a German film director and screenwriter, best known to international audiences for his work Good Bye, Lenin! (2003).[1] He was a co-founder of the production company X Filme Creative Pool, which produced his first successful feature film, Das Leben ist eine Baustelle, in 1997.
Life and career
Wolfgang Becker was born in Hemer on 22 June 1954.[2] He studied German, History and American Studies at the Free University in Berlin.[2][3] In 1980 he landed a job at a sound studio and later enrolled at the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB). In 1983 he started work as a freelance cameraman graduating from the DFFB in 1986 with Schmetterlinge (Butterflies), which won the Student Academy Award in 1988,[2] the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival,[3] and the Saarland Prime-Minister's Award at the 1988 Template:Interlanguage link Saarbrücken.[2]
Becker directed an episode of the television drama Tatort, titled "Template:Interlanguage link".[4] He made his second feature Kinderspiele (Child's Play) in 1992.[2] He created a documentary the same year, Celibidache, about Sergiu Celibidache returning to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic after 38 years.[5]
In 1994 Becker co-founded the production company X Filme Creative Pool with Tom Tykwer, Stefan Arndt, and Dani Levy.[6] He worked with Tykwer on the Berlinale competition feature Das Leben ist eine Baustelle (Life Is All You Get, 1997).[2]
Becker was a founding member of the Deutsche Filmakademie in 2003.[3] He was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.[7]
Becker's biggest success was the 2003 film Good Bye, Lenin!, with over 6 million viewers.[8] The short film Ballero was produced for the 2006 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony and broadcast worldwide on television.[9] In October 2024, Becker directed a last film Der Held vom Bahnhof Friedrichstraße about German-German history.[10][11]
Becker was married and had a daughter.[6] He died in Berlin on 12 December 2024 after a severe illness, at the age of 70.[3][6][4][12]
Filmography
Becker directed selected films:[8]
- Schmetterlinge (1988)
- Tatort (TV series) (1 episode, "Blutwurstwalzer") (1991)
- Child's Play (Kinderspiele) (1992), also writer
- Life Is All You Get (Das Leben ist eine Baustelle) (1997), also writer and actor
- Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), also co-writer
- Welcome to São Paulo (Bem-Vindo a São Paulo) (2004), segment
- Ballero (2005), also writer
- Germany 09: 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation (2009), segment "Krankes Haus", also writer
- Me and Kaminski (2015), also writer
Awards
- 1997 Berlin International Film Festival, Honourable Mention for Das Leben ist eine Baustelle[13]
- 1998 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Production, for Das Leben ist eine Baustelle[14]
- 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, Blue Angel for Good Bye Lenin![15]
- 2003 European Film Awards, Audience Award for Best Director for Good Bye Lenin![3]
- 2004 Goya Awards, Best European Film for Good Bye Lenin![2]
- 2004 Bavarian Film Awards, Audience Award for Good Bye Lenin![16]
- 2004 César Awards, Best European Union Film for Good Bye Lenin![2]
References
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- ↑ Daum, Andreas W. (2023). "Good Bye, Lenin! (2003): Coping with Change—and the Future in the Counterfactual". Deutsche Filmgeschichten: Historische Porträts, ed. Nicolai Hannig et. al. Goettingen: Wallstein. pp. 221–276.
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- ↑ Bayerischer Filmpreis – "Pierrot" Bayerischer Filmpreis
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External links
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- Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs
- BBC interview following Good Bye Lenin!
- X Filme Creative Pool
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