Rolf Schübel (born 11 November 1942 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany) is a German

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Schübel studied literature and sociology during the 1960s, first in Tübingen, and later in Hamburg. There he met filmmaker Theo Gallehr and assisted at his documentary ''Landfriedensbruch'' (1967). However, the film was not shown in television but went directly to the film archives; the

NDR NDR may refer to: Computing * Non delivery report, a return email message to a sender indicating failed message delivery * Network Data Representation, an implementation of the OSI model presentation layer Science and technology * Negative differ ...

(North German Broadcasting Studios) as employer refused to broadcast the film because it was viewed as too radical. Nevertheless, Gallehr and Schübel produced a number of films for the

and

WDR WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signall ...

afterwards. For their documentary ''Der deutsche Kleinstädter'' (1968) they received the Adolf Grimme Award, as well as for ''Rote Fahnen sieht man besser'' (1971) concerning the closure of a chemical plant in Krefeld. In 1972 Schübel founded his own production company. In the following years he created the film portraits ''Nachruf auf eine Bestie'' (1983) concerning the child murderer Jürgen Bartsch and ''Der Indianer'' (1987) about a man with

laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancers are mostly squamous-cell carcinomas, reflecting their origin from the epithelium of the larynx. Cancer can develop in any part of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumour. For the purposes of staging, ...

. The film was based on the autobiographical tale of Leonhard Lenz. Both films received various awards. His first feature film directed Schübel in 1990 with '' Das Heimweh des Walerjan Wróbel''. The film tells the story of a Polish teenager under the regime of forced labor in Germany during World War II in northern Germany and who was later was sentenced to death by the Nazi regime for a minor misdemeanor. In 1992/93 Schübel made a two-part TV documentary about the battle of Stalingrad ''Todfeinde. Vom Sterben und Überleben in Stalingrad'' in which his Russian co-director Grigori Chukhrai as well as other Russian and German survivors told about their experiences during the battle. The film was a German-Russian co-production. Schübel's international breakthrough came with the 1999 film ''

Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod ''Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod'' (''Gloomy Sunday – A Song of Love and Death'', ) is a 1999 film, a German/Hungarian co-production. Although the movie centers on a romantic love triangle with tragic consequences, it has a strong historical backg ...

'' (''Gloomy Sunday — A Song of Love and Death''; it is set in Budapest of the 1930s and tells the story of a woman (

Erika Marozsán Erika Marozsán (born 3 August 1972) is a Hungarian actor, actress. Career Marozsán graduated from the Budapest Academy of Drama and Film in 1995 and then became a member of ''Új Színház'' ("New Theatre") in Budapest. Her first movie appe ...

) between three men ( Joachim Król, Ben Becker and

Stefano Dionisi Stefano Dionisi (born 1 October 1966, in Rome) is an Italian actor. He has performed in more than sixty films since 1986. He is best known for portraying the 18th-century Italian castrato opera singer Farinelli Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 � ...

). Background is the popular title melody, which was kind of an anthem for suicides during its time. The film won various awards among others the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

, the Bayerischer Filmpreis (Best Feature Film), an honorable mention from the international 2000 Jerusalem Film Festival, the 2000 Audience Award at the São Paulo International Film Festival, and the Audience Choice Award at the St. Louis International Film Festival. In 2001 he wrote and directed the psychodrama ''Collapse'' with

Sebastian Koch Sebastian Koch (born 31 May 1962) is a German television and film actor. He is known for roles in the 2007 Academy Award-winning film '' The Lives of Others'', in Steven Spielberg's '' Bridge of Spies'', and as Otto Düring in the fifth season o ...

as a journalist who questioned his job critically. In 2002 he directed the drama '' Blueprint'' with Franka Potente. In 2004 he made the drama ''Zeit der Wünsche''. In 2006 and 2007 he made episodes for '' Tatort''.

Filmography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schubel, Rolf 1942 births Living people Mass media people from Stuttgart Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin