Jens Hoffmann is a German director, writer and
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
.
History
Hoffmann had his start in the mountains with a 16 mm camera. Having grown up in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
region of Germany, he started skiing at an early age and it quickly became a significant part of his life.
As he traveled to distant mountain ranges, it became difficult to find a cameraman who was skilled enough and willing to partake in the adventures so he started to operate the cameras himself. In the early 1990s he began studying journalism in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
and got his first job in the industry working as a producer and
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
in
sports television
The broadcasting of sports events (also known as a sportscast) is the live coverage of sports as a television program, on radio, and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing events as they happen. ...
.
[
After five years in ]television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, of which two were spent with the Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
circuit, he was offered a position as Assistant Director and Executive Producer for Willy Bogner Films. This was his first chance to work on a major film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
with a big budget. This included IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
cameras and huge set ups. He made several movies for the sports industry and commercials.[
In 2000, he started his own production company: F24 Film.][ Though he continued to produce ]commercials
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
and corporate movies, he began to focus more on feature-length documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
that branched into more personal portrayals. His first of this kind was about his former boss, Willy Bogner, entitled ''Portrait of a Filmmaker'', in 2000.
In 2002, he began working on ''20 Seconds of Joy'', the story of Karina Hollekim. In 2008, the filmmaker stepped into the world of documentary film with a screening of ''20 Seconds of Joy'' at HotDocs in Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada.
Since 2004, Jens has received several awards for his work on commercials and corporate movies, including the official city profiles for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
. His documentary, ''Fatima’s Hand'', has received 16 international awards, including Best Documentary on Sports at the Banff Film Festival in 2006. He won the award again in 2007 with ''20 Seconds of Joy'', and in 2008 with ''Journey to the Center''.Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...
in 2008; it also had screenings at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, and the Miami International Film Festival.
References
External links
link F24 FILM
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Jens
Living people
Film people from Baden-Württemberg
1968 births
Place of birth missing (living people)