Jörg Buttgereit (born 20 December 1963) is a German writer/director known for his controversial films. He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and has lived there his entire life. He is best known for his horror films '' Nekromantik'' (1987), '' Der Todesking'' (1990), '' Nekromantik 2'' (1991) and '' Schramm'' (1993). In 1999, he directed an episode of the television series ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

'', after a six-year absence from the entertainment industry. In 2013, Buttgereit announced that he would be teaming up with fellow horror directors and Michal Kosakowski to work on an anthology film called ', in which each director would do one short. The film was released on 7 May 2015. Buttgereit's

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

character, Captain Berlin, was adapted into a comic book series in 2013. There is also a comic book version of ''Nekromantik''.

Early life

Buttgereit was raised in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

while the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

was still standing and the Allied Forces – Britain, France and the United States – each controlled a section of West Berlin. Hence, young Buttgereit went to the movie theaters to watch films from the aforementioned countries, he particularly enjoyed watching

monster movie A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally megafauna, large ones. The film may also ...

s from the age of four. His grandmother bought him packs of ''Creature Feature'' bubblegum cards while he was in kindergarten and for his first Holy communion he received a Super 8 camera. Buttgereit has been experimenting with film since 1977. His first project was called ''Gags und Schwarzer Humor'', a parody of TV commercials. ''Color Trip'' was created after his camera broke and the developers gave him back black, blank film. After scratching and washing the film, something blue, black and green came out of the projector. ''Klassenfahrt'' was a movie about his class in his last year at school. ''Stress'' was another version of Color Trip using another returned blank film. He claims his very first feature was called ''Interview with Frankenstein''. ''The Exploding Sports Shoe'' (1980) was a two-minute film consisting of a sport shoe exploding in

slow-motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...

. It was shown on TV as part of a documentary about

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

; the original title was ''The Most Beautiful Destruction''. In 2012, speaking at the Leeds International Film Festival, Buttgereit said that he was happy working in stage and television production and cited internet

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

as a problem for low-budget filmmakers.

Filmography (as writer and director)

*''Ogar der Hässliche'' (1981) *''Captain Berlin'' (1982) *''Mein Papi'' (1982) *''Der Gollob'' (1983) *''Horror Heaven'' (1984) *''Blutige Exzesse im Führerbunker'' (1984) *''Hot Love'' (1984) *''Crucifixion'' (episode in '' Jesus – Der Film'') (1986) *'' Nekromantik'' (1987) *'' Der Todesking'' (1990) *'' Nekromantik 2'' (1991) *'' Schramm'' (1993) *''Die Monsterinsel'' (documentary) (2002) *''Through the Night with Michaela Schaffrath and Mark Benecke'' (documentary) (2007) *''Through the Night with Asia Argento and Joe Coleman'' (documentary) (2007) *''Monsterland'' (documentary) (2009) *''Captain Berlin VS Hitler'' (2010) *''Into the Night with Oda Jaune and Lars Eidinger'' (documentary) (2010) *''A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein'' (short film) (2012) *''Monsters of Arthouse'' (DVD compilation of Buttgereit stageplays) (2013) *' (with and Michal Kosakowski) (2015) *''Schweinchen - Piglets'' (decomposition documentary with Dr. Mark Benecke (2020)

References

Bibliography

* Buttgereit, J. (Ed). (2007) ''Nekromantik''. Berlin: Martin Schmitz Verlag. * Kerekes, D. (1998). ''Sex, Murder, Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit''. Manchester: HEADPRESS. * Koven, M. J. (2007). Buttgereit's Poetics: 'Schramm' as a Cinema of Poetry. In Hantke, S. ''Caligari's Heirs: The German Cinema of Fear after 1945''. pp. 185–197. Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Plymouth UK: The Scarecrow Press Inc. * MacCormack, P. (2007). Necrosexuality, Perversion, and 'Jouissance': The Experimental Desires of Jörg Buttgereit's 'NekRomantik' Films. In Hantke, S. ''Caligari's Heirs: The German Cinema of Fear after 1945''. pp. 199–215. Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Plymouth UK: The Scarecrow Press Inc. * Stiglegger, M. (2007). "Good News From the Underground: A Conversation with Jörg Buttgereit." In Hantke, S. ''Caligari's Heirs: The German Cinema of Fear after 1945''. pp. 219–226. Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Plymouth UK: The Scarecrow Press Inc.

External links

* *
Girls and Corpses
Interview with Jörg Buttgereit by Kevin Klem
Interview in Exberliner Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttgereit, Jorg 1963 births Living people Mass media people from Berlin German horror film directors