Marian Dora (born 1970 in Southern Germany) is the pseudonym most commonly used by an anonymous German art director, cinematographer, actor, screenwriter, editor, producer, composer, assistant director, makeup artist, special effects/sound/camera/electricity technician, and set decorator/designer, anagram of his actual name, occasionally also credited under several other pseudonyms including Marian Dora Bolutino, Marian Dora Botulino, Marian D. Bolutino, M.D. Botulino, Dr. M. Duran,Marian D. Botulino, M. Duran, Art Doran, M.D. Bolutino, A. Doran, Marian Bolutino and Marian Dallamano.
Biography
Marian Dora's first appearance in the film scene dates back to the early 90s, when he started making short films as member of a group of anonymous underground filmmakers. Some of these short films were featured on two anthologies, ''Blue Snuff 1'' and ''Blue Snuff 2'' (the latter withdrawn due to its extreme content). These anthologies would later be released in the form of various standalone short films.
Dora then started working as film producer, editor, and second unit director on several films by
Ulli Lommel
Ulli Lommel (21 December 1944 – 2 December 2017) was a German actor and director, noted for his many collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his association with the New German Cinema movement. Lommel spent time at The Factory and was ...
, whom he had met and started a long-time partnership with in 1996, including ''
Zombie Nation'' (2004), ''
Green River Killer
Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, brin ...
'' (2005), ''B.T.K. Killer'' (2005), ''
Killer Pickton
''Killer Pickton'' is a 2005 American horror film loosely based on the crimes of Canadian pig farmer Robert Pickton.
The movie was filmed in New Hampshire and directed by Ulli Lommel. It was co-produced and co-written by Ulli Lommel and Jef ...
'' (2006), and ''
Absolute Evil'' (2009).
Although Dora had already shot his first feature-film, ''Debris Documentar'', in 2003, his debut as director was marked in 2006 by ''
Cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
'', a reconstruction of the case of
Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes (; born 1 December 1961) is a German former computer repair technician who received international attention for murdering and eating a voluntary victim in 2001, whom he had found via the Internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly ...
, who killed and ate a willing victim whom he met on the internet. The film was originally an assignment from Ulli Lommel, but Dora had to release it by himself after its rejection by Lommel because of its extremely gory nature. ''Cannibal'' achieved resounding success in the underground film panorama, allowing Dora to start the shooting of his next work in the same year.
''
Melancholie der Engel'', Dora’s third film, premiered on 1 May 2009 at festival in Berlin and won the “Best Arthouse Feature Film” prize at New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. According to Dora, the shooting of the film was a nightmarish experience full of madness, violence, and drug abuse by actor Zenza Raggi. ''Melancholie der Engel'' generated a lot of controversy because of many scenes involving
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
,
coprophilia
Coprophilia (from Greek κόπρος, ''kópros'' 'excrement' and φιλία, ''philía'' 'liking, fondness'), also called scatophilia or scat (Greek: σκατά, ''skatá'' 'feces'), is the paraphilia involving sexual arousal and pleasure from ...
,
zoophilia
Zoophilia is a paraphilia involving a sexual fixation on non-human animals. Bestiality is cross-species sexual activity between humans and non-human animals. The terms are often used interchangeably, but some researchers make a distinction b ...
, and real
animal cruelty
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or Injury, harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...
(though the murder of a cat was proved to be fake). The controversy surrounding ''Melancholie der Engel'' resulted in several death threats to Dora and the end of his partnership with Frank.
''Reise nach Agatis'', Dora’s fourth work, was released in 2010. A DVD version of the film featured ''Debris documentar'' as bonus disc, marking its first release nine years after the shooting. In 2012 Dora was confirmed to be the director of ''Mors in Tabula'', one of twelve segments developed for the anthology ''
The Profane Exhibit
''The Profane Exhibit'' is a 2013 International anthology horror film written and directed by various filmmakers specialized in the genre.
Segments
*''Basement'' (based on the Fritzl case), directed by Uwe Boll
*''Bridge'', directed by Rugge ...
''.
In 2014 Dora released his fifth film, ''Carcinoma'', under the name of Art Doran. The film won an award at the 2015 Sadique-Master Festival, held in Paris. In 2017 Dora appeared in a documentary called ''Revisiting Melancholie der Engel'', walking Swedish filmmaker Magnus Blomdahl through the film’s locations and talking about the making of the film.
Influences
Dora’s main influence is the European cinema of the 70s: he is a great admirer of the work of Italian directors
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Gualtiero Jacopetti (4 September 1919 – 17 August 2011) was an Italian documentary film director. With Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi, he is considered the originator of mondo films, also called "shockumentaries".
Early life
Gualtiero Jaco ...
,
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor.
His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known fo ...
, and
Sergio Martino
Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.
Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...
, as well as of composers
Riz Ortolani
Riziero Ortolani (; 25 March 192623 January 2014) was an Italian composer, conductor, and orchestrator, predominantly of film scores. He scored over 200 films and television programs between 1955 and 2014, with a career spanning over fifty year ...
,
Pippo Caruso
Giuseppe Caruso (22 December 1935 – 28 May 2018), best known as Pippo Caruso, was an Italian composer, conductor and music arranger.
Biography
Born in Belpasso, Catania, Caruso linked his professional success to the television presenter Pi ...
,
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...
, and
Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Guido and Maurizio De Angelis, also known as Oliver Onions, are a prolific duo of Italian musicians, multi-instrumentalists, composers and singers, as well as television and film producers. They reached the height of their popularity in the 1970 ...
. His favorite film is 1978’s ''
The Green Room'' by
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...
, which he quoted in his film ''Carcinoma'', along with
Epicurus
Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...
’s ''
Letter to Menoeceus
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism.
Few writings by ...
'' and the famous 19th-century German song ' – the latter also being used as foundation for a major part of the film’s score.
Europe’s literary and poetical tradition is another major influence on Dora: many dialogues in his films contain references to the works of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
,
Eduard Mörike
Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...
,
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...
,
Marquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...
,
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
, and many others. ''Reise nach Agatis'' is said to be inspired by the books ' by and ''
The Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysteriou ...
'' by
Charles Berlitz
Charles Frambach Berlitz (November 22, 1913 – December 18, 2003) was an American polyglot, language teacher and writer, known for his language-learning courses and his books on paranormal phenomena.
Life
Berlitz was born in New York City. He wa ...
, and the films ''
Bermuda: Cave of the Sharks'' by
Tonino Ricci
Tonino Ricci (23 October 1927 – 9 March 2014), sometimes credited as Anthony Richmond, was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Ricci was born Teodoro Ricci in Rome on October 23, 1927. He began working in film as an assistant director in ...
and ''
The Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysteriou ...
'' (by
René Cardona Jr.). Dora has claimed that he is fascinated by
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
s like
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...
,
Andreas Baader
Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was one of the first leaders of the West German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as ''the Baader-Meinhof Group''.
Life
Andreas Baader was born in ...
,
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...
, and
Dennis Nilsen
Dennis Andrew Nilsen (23 November 1945 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least twelve young men and boys between 1978 and 1983 in London. Convicted at the Old Bailey of six counts of murder and two of ...
, particularly their ability to manipulate other people in order to get what they want.
Filmography
Feature films
*''
Cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
'' (2006)
*''
Melancholie der Engel'' (2009)
*''
Reise nach Agatis'' (2010)
*''
Debris documentar'' (2012)
*''
The Profane Exhibit
''The Profane Exhibit'' is a 2013 International anthology horror film written and directed by various filmmakers specialized in the genre.
Segments
*''Basement'' (based on the Fritzl case), directed by Uwe Boll
*''Bridge'', directed by Rugge ...
''
("''Mors in Tabula''" segment) (2013)
*''Carcinoma'' (2014)
*''Pesthauch der Menschlichkeit'' (2018)
*''Der Verlangen der Maria D.'' (2018)
*''Thomas und Marco'' (2022)
Short films
*''Agonie''
*''An einem Morgen im Frühling''
*''Cadavericon''
*''Caribbean Sunrise''
*''Carnophage''
*''Christian B.''
*''Der Puppenschänder 1''
*''Der Puppenschänder 2''
*''Die Toten von San Angelo''
*''Erotic Fantasy''
*''Es geschah in Gotha''
*''Journey Into Perversion''
*''Opus hominis 1''
*''Opus hominis 2''
*''Polydipsia''
*''Proud Off''
*''Provokation 1''
*''Provokation 2''
*''Sad Impression''
*''Sane Impression 1''
*''Sane Impression 2''
*''Science''
*''Sommerliebelei''
*''Subcimitero 1''
*''Subcimitero 2: Guanajuato''
*''The Devil’s Possessed – Behind the Scenes of Jess Franco’s ''
*''The Devil’s Torturer''
*''Vita minima''
[ . »Ulli-Lommel-Mitarbeiters Marian Dora.« Blomdahl, Magnus. ]
Äkta skräck 2
'. Malmö: , Maj 2017, 155 s., . Bordage, Tinam.
Les dossiers Sadique-master: Dissection du cinéma underground extrême
'. Rosières-en-Haye: , Mars 2017, 540 pp., . Keesey, Prof. Dr. Douglas.
Twenty First Century Horror Films: A Guide to the Best Contemporary Horror Movies
'. Harpenden: Kamera Books, March 2017, 264 pp., .
References
External links
*
*
*
Marian Doraat
Hollywood.com
Hollywood.com is an entertainment news website covering popular culture topics including movies, television, music and celebrities. Hollywood.com is principally owned by Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie S. Silvers, who previously founded Sci-Fi Ch ...
Marian Doraat
filmportal.de
filmportal.de is an online database of information related to German film. It includes extensive information on films and filmmakers as well as articles on film issues. The website was released on occasion of the 54th Berlin International Film Fe ...
Marian Doraat
AlloCiné
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dora, Marian
1970 births
21st-century German composers
21st-century German artists
21st-century German physicians
21st-century German writers
21st-century German male writers
Anonymous artists
German film people
German experimental filmmakers
German film score composers
German make-up artists
German male artists
German male composers
German male non-fiction writers
German medical writers
German production designers
German set decorators
Male film score composers
Outsider artists
Outsider musicians
Pseudonymous artists
Silent film directors
Silent film producers
Special effects people
Visual effects artists
Living people
21st-century German male musicians
21st-century pseudonymous writers