Jo Baier (born 13 February 1949) is a German film director and writer. He directed more than twenty films since 1982 and is known for '' Operation Valkyrie'' (2004), '' Henri 4'' (2010) and ' (2006). He is married to Gertrud Baier.
Early life and education
Baier was born in Munich. He studied drama, German and English at the Ludwig Maximilians University. He graduated with a doctorate in 1980. Since 1979 he has directed primarily television documentaries and dramas.Jo Baier CineEuropa. N.d. Retrieved 28 April 2016
As he grew up in a Bavarian village, his movies are often influenced by his childhood experiences.
Awards
Baier has received the
Grimme-Preis
The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.German Television Award. For ', his debut as a theatrical director, he was nominated for the German Film Award.
Selected filmography
*''Schiefweg'' (1986, TV film) — (based on stories by Emerenz Meier)
*''Rosse'' (1989, TV film) — (based on a play by )
*' (1991, TV film) — (biographical film about Emerenz Meier)
*' (1995, TV film) — (based on a novel by Oskar Maria Graf)
*' (1998, TV miniseries) — (based on a novel by
Erwin Strittmatter
Erwin Strittmatter (14 August 1912 – 31 January 1994) was a German writer. Strittmatter was one of the most famous writers in the GDR.
Biography
Strittmatter was born the son of a baker and foods wholesaler. Between 1924 and 1930 he attended ...
)
*''Der Weibsteufel'' (2000, TV film) — (based on a play by
Karl Schönherr
Karl Schönherr (24 February 1867 - 15 March 1943) was an Austrian writer of Austrian Heimat themes.
Biography
Schönherr was born in Axams, near Innsbruck (Austria), to Joseph and Marie Suitner Schönherr. He began studying philosophy in Inn ...
)
*' (2001, TV film) — (biographical film about
Walter Sedlmayr
Walter Sedlmayr (6 January 1926 – 14 July 1990) was a popular German stage, television, and film actor from Bavaria. His murder in 1990 was widely publicized.
Career
After his 1945 wartime ''Abitur,'' Sedlmayr served as a '' Flakhelfer'' to ...
)
*' (2002, TV film)
*''
Swabian Children
The Swabian children (German: ''Schwabenkinder'') were peasant children from poor families in the Alps of Austria and Switzerland who went to find work on farms in Upper Swabia and the Swabian Jura. Usually they were sent by their parents to beco ...
'' (2003, TV film) — (based on a novel by )
*'' Stauffenberg'' (''Operation Valkyrie'', 2004, TV film)
*' (2006, TV film) — (based on an autobiographical book by
Michael Degen
Michael Degen (31 January 1928 – 9 April 2022) was a German-Israeli actor, in film and theatre, as well as a theatre director and writer.
Early life
Born in Chemnitz as the younger son of Jewish parents, Degen survived the Holocaust in Berli ...
)
*' (2007, TV film)
*' (2008, TV film) — (biographical film about
Liesl Karlstadt
Liesl Karlstadt (; born Elisabeth Wellano, 12 December 1892 – 27 June 1960) was a German actress and cabaret performer. Alongside Karl Valentin, she set the tone for a generation of popular culture in Munich. She appeared in more than 70 f ...
and
Karl Valentin
Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882 in Munich – 9 February 1948 in Planegg) was a Bavarian comedian. He had significant influence on German Weimar culture. Valentin starred in many silent films in the 1920s, and was sometimes ...
)
*'' Henri 4'' (''Henry of Navarre'', 2010) — (based on novels by
Heinrich Mann
Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...
)
*''
The End Is My Beginning
''The End Is My Beginning'' (german: Das Ende ist mein Anfang, it, La fine è il mio inizio) is a 2010 German-Italian biographical drama film directed by Jo Baier. It is based on the posthumous autobiographical best-seller with the same name wri ...
'' (2010) — (based on an autobiographical book by
Tiziano Terzani
Tiziano Terzani (; 14 September 1938 – 28 July 2004) was an Italian journalist and writer, best known for his extensive knowledge of 20th century East Asia and for being one of the very few western reporters to witness both the fall of Saigon ...
)
*' (2012, TV film) — (based on a story by
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual's ...