cover 4_05-gfq.RV - German Films

Douglas Wolfsperger (photo © Joachim Gern)
DIRECTOR’S PORTRAIT
Douglas Wolfsperger was born in Zurich, although
a German citizen, in 1958. He grew up in
Friedrichshafen and on Lake Constance and made his
first Super 8 films as a schoolboy. After graduation,
he gained practical directing experience at the
broadcaster SWR in Baden-Baden. In 1982, he
moved to Munich and collaborated on productions
by the local Academy of Television & Film. His first
feature film was made in 1985; since the early 90s, he
has directed numerous documentaries and portraits
for SWF and WDR. A father of three daughters,
Wolfsperger now lives in Berlin and by Lake
Constance. His films include: the features Lebe
kreuz und sterbe quer (1985), Kies (1986),
Probefahrt ins Paradies (1992), and Heirate
mir! (1999), as well as the award-winning documentaries
Bellaria – As Long As We Live
(Bellaria – so lange wir leben, 2001), Riders
of the Sacred Blood (Die Blutritter, 2002),
and most recently Did You Ever Fall in Love
with Me? (War’n Sie schon mal in mich
verliebt?, 2004) which premiered this year at
Locarno.
Contact:
Douglas Wolfsperger Filmproduktion
Kurfuerstendamm 214 · 10719 Berlin/Germany
phone +49-30-88 72 53 49 · fax +49-30-88 72 53 51
email: buerowolfsperger@t-online.de
www.Douglas-Wolfsperger.de
FILMS THAT HOVER
A portrait of Douglas Wolfsperger
There are many examples of famous directors who began their
careers making documentary films. But for a director to have been
well-known for slightly scurrilous, ironic and always cutting feature
films, and in the meantime to be acclaimed at international festivals for
his documentary work, this is not something one encounters every
day.
Douglas Wolfsperger never sought to please the biggest possible
audience; the humor of his satires (Lebe kreuz und sterbe
quer, Probefahrt ins Paradies) was too black for that. But the
comedy Heirate mir! – featuring the popular German media-autodidact
Verona Feldbusch – was still one of the most successful TV
movies to be broadcast on ProSieben. Nevertheless, it became more
and more difficult for Wolfsperger to finance his films. The director,
who has lived by Lake Constance for many years and also sets a lot of
his stories in the area, views this as one of the basic problems in
German cinema: “Everyone asks you if a TV station is involved. You
may even only receive film support if a TV station is co-producing the
german films quarterly director’s portrait
4 · 2005 14