Götz Spielmann (born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian director and scriptwriter.

Life and career

Spielmann was born in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the H ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and grew up in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After High School, he lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied film direction and script-writing in Vienna at the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

. At the Viennese Filmacadamy, his professors included Harald Zusanek and

Axel Corti Axel Corti (born ''Axel Fuhrmanns''; 7 May 1933 – 29 December 1993) was an Austrian screenwriter, film director and radio host. Life He was born in Paris. His father was a businessman of Austrian and Italian descent, his mother was from Berlin. ...

. After making several short films, and receiving his diploma with ''Vergiss Sneider!,'' with the drama ''Erwin und Julia'', Spielmann had his first great success. In 1993, his film ''Der Nachbar'' won the ''Vienna Filmaward'' at the

Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Metro ...

. And in 1994, his film for television ''Dieses naive Verlangen'' was awarded with the ''Erich-Neuberg-Preis''. In 2006, he was honored with the ''Upper Austrian Landeskulturpreis'' in the “Film” section. Spielmann is one of the most important contemporary Austrian film directors. His films ''The Stranger'' and ''

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ ...

'' were the Austrian candidates for Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. ''Antares'' has been screened widely at more than thirty International Film Festivals. Spielmann is on the committee of the ''Verband der Filmregisseure Österreichs'' (the Association of the Austrian film directors). In the Linzer Kammerspiele (

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

) he made his debut as theatre director with the performance of the play ''Der einsame Weg'', written by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

. For the season 2006/2007, he wrote his first play for the theatre, the

Landestheater Linz The Linz State Theatre (german: Landestheater Linz) is a theatre in Linz, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...

, ''Imperium'', which was first released on 5 January 2007 at the Linzer Kammerspiele. In January 2009 Spielmann's '' Revanche'' was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Films (selection)

* ''Erwin und Julia'' (1990) * ''Der Nachbar'' (1993) * ''Dieses naive Verlangen'' (1993) * ''Loveable Lies'' (''Liebe Lügen''; aka ''Pretty Lies'') (1995) * ''Fear of the Idyll'' (''Die Angst vor der Idylle'') (1996) * ''The Stranger'' (''Die Fremde'') (2000) * ''Spiel im Morgengrauen '' (2001) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Revanche'' (2008) * ''

October November ''October November'' (german: Oktober November) is a 2013 Austrian drama film written and directed by Götz Spielmann. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Cast * Nora von Wa ...

'' (2013)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spielmann, Gotz 1961 births Austrian film directors 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Austrian screenwriters English-language film directors German-language film directors Living people Austrian male screenwriters