Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''

Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Fromm ...

''.

Life

Born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. Vilsmaier attended a boarding school near

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. He then trained as a technician to make film cameras, and studied piano at the

Musikhochschule München The University of Music and Performing Arts Munich (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater München), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is ...

. He was a member of a jazz group. After working as a technician, he moved into film, first as a material and camera assistant, then from 1961 as a cameraman. He filmed episodes of television series such as ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed b ...

''. His debut film as director, '' Herbstmilch'' in 1988, starring his wife,

Dana Vávrová Dana Vávrová (; 9 August 1967 – 5 February 2009) was a Czech-German film actress and director. She was one of the most popular German actresses throughout 1980s and early 1990s. After her role in Herbstmilch as Anna Wimschneider in 1989, she ...

, was a huge success. In 1995, he directed '' Schlafes Bruder'', after

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk H ...

. In 1997, he directed ''

'' which became an international success. For the films he directed, Vilsmaier was also the producer and first cameraman. While filming ''

Der Letzte Zug ''The Last Train'' (german: Der letzte Zug) is a 2006 German film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová, and starring Gedeon Burkhard, Lale Yavas, and Lena Beyerling. The film depicts the fate of some of the last remaining Jews in Ber ...

'' in 2005, probably the last film produced by

Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 – 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946. Life and career He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family ...

, he was injured when he fell off a camera tower. Subsequently, his ability to work was limited, and his wife took over directing the film. The couple was awarded the special jury prize at the 2006

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

for ''Der letzte Zug''. Dana Vávrová died on 5 February 2009. The couple had three daughters, , , and , all of whom became actresses and starred in a number of their films. Vilsmaier died on 11 February 2020.

Awards

** 1990 Best Production ** 1992 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Producing, Best Cinematography ** 1995 Bavarian Film Award, Best Production ** 1997 Bavarian Film Award, Best Director ** 2006 Bavarian Film Award, Special Prize *

18th Moscow International Film Festival The 18th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 1 to 12 July 1993. The Golden St. George was awarded to the French-Belarusian film '' Me Ivan, You Abraham'' directed by Yolande Zauberman. Jury * Claude Lelouch (France – President o ...

** Nominated – ''Stalingrad''

Filmography

Vilsmaier directed films and television films, including: * '' Herbstmilch'' (1988) * ' (1990) * ''

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

'' (1993) * '' Charlie & Louise – Das doppelte Lottchen'' (1994) * '' Schlafes Bruder'' (1995) * ' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * '' Marlene'' (2000) * ''

Leo & Claire ''Leo & Claire'' (german: Leo und Claire) is a 2001 German historical drama film produced, written and directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and starring Michael Degen and Suzanne von Borsody. The film was competing at the Montreal World Film Festival on ...

'' (2001) * ' (2004) * ''

Der letzte Zug ''The Last Train'' (german: Der letzte Zug) is a 2006 German film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and Dana Vávrová, and starring Gedeon Burkhard, Lale Yavas, and Lena Beyerling. The film depicts the fate of some of the last remaining Jews in Ber ...

'' (2006) * ' (2008, TV film) * ' (2008) * ''

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...

'' (2010) * ' (2012, TV film) * ' (2012)

References

External links

* *
Heftige Gefühle entwickeln
(portrait on the occasion of his 80th birthday) , 24 January 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilsmaier, Joseph 1939 births 2020 deaths Film directors from Munich Mountaineering film directors Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany