Sebastian Marka (born 1978 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) is a German film director and editor.

Life and work

Sebastian Marka was born in Geneva in 1978 and grew up in

Königsbach-Stein Königsbach-Stein is a municipality in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. History Until German mediatization, the town of Stein was ruled by both the Margraviate of Baden and the . ...

near

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. After completing his

Zivildienst Zivildienst is the German denomination for the alternative civilian service for conscripted persons who are conscientious objectors to fulfill their national service, typically in the fields of social work (e.g. hospitals, retirement homes, em ...

(alternative civilian service), Marka began studying at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 2001 and graduated in 2005 with a degree in ''Film & Media''. While still being a student, Marka began working as a

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film edit ...

. He edited

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

, short- and

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s. After graduating, he continued his editing work and was responsible for editing several

Television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

s such as

Unschuldig ''Unschuldig'' is a German television series. See also *List of German television series The following is a list of television series produced in Germany: Current Drama * '' 4 Blocks'' ( TNT Serie, 2017–2019) * '' Alarm für Cobra 11 ...

or 100 Code, an internationally co-produced Swedish

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series. In 2010 Marka's short film - thriller

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

was released, for which he received many

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s at German and international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s. Due to the success of his short film ''Interview'' he received his first directing assignments. After directing five episodes of the German TV series

Notruf Hafenkante ''Notruf Hafenkante'' is a German television series broadcast on ZDF. It is set in Hamburg and is about the members of the police department PK 21 and the doctors of the fictional hospital Elbkrankenhaus. The show's premise is modelled on th ...

, Marka subsequently shot ten 90-minute episodes of the popular German police crime drama series

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 by ...

since 2013, three of which he edited himself. The released Tatort-episodes were almost all praised by the German press and received good

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

ratings. For example, the German

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

Rainer Tittelbach wrote in October 2018, that Marka had created ''"exceptional crime films"'' (Ausnahmekrimis).

Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wit ...

- critic Christian Buß also wrote in a 2018 Tatort - review, that Marka had ''"repeatedly artfully widened the format of the series with cinematic 'Tatort-episodes' such as the Berlin episode 'Meta' or the ' Se7en' variation"'' for the Frankfurt Tatort edition (hat mit cineastischen "Tatorten" wie der Berliner Folge "Meta" oder der "Se7en"-Variation ..immer wieder kunstvoll das Format der Reihe geweitet). In addition, some of the Tatort - episodes won national and international awards. For example, the episode Long Live Death celebrated its international premiere at the Austin Film Festival in 2016. And Marka won an

audience award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Example ...

for it at the

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

in 2017 and received a jury award at the

Garden State Film Festival The Garden State Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Asbury Park, New Jersey which debuts more than 200 independent films annually over four days each spring. The festival was founded in 2002 in Sea Girt, New Jersey by ...

in 2017. For the Tatort-episode ''Die Wahrheit'' Marka and screenwriter

Erol Yesilkaya Erol Yesilkaya (born Juny 6, 1976 in Istanbul) is a Turkish-German screenwriter. Life and work Erol Yesilkaya was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1976 and then moved with his parents to Krefeld, where he grew up. After he finished the Gymnasium and ...

were nominated for the prestigious

Grimme Award 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.showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

- principle". During the process of making a film, from idea development to

film editing Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

, Yesilkaya and Marka would be in constant exchange of information to achieve a good result. On October 20, 2020, Marka's

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

TV -

Science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

''Exit'' was broadcast on the nationwide German television channel

Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are member ...

. Yesilkaya again wrote the screenplay for the film, which is set in the year 2047 and addresses the dimension and impact of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

and digital life. The German film critic Arno Frank of

said, that a ''"perfectly formed dystopia like "Exit" ..has not yet been seen on public television"'' in Germany. (Eine formvollendete Dystopie wie "Exit" ..hat man bei den Öffentlich-Rechtlichen noch nicht gesehen.) It was announced in the press on February 2, 2021, that Marka and Yesilkaya are to film the German

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

''The Gryphon'' (Der Greif, 1989) by

Wolfgang Hohlbein Wolfgang Hohlbein (born 15 August 1953 in Weimar, Bezirk Erfurt) is a German writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction who lives near Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia. His wife, Heike Hohlbein, is also a writer and often works with her ...

as a series for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. ''The Gryphon'' is scheduled for release in 2023.

Filmography (selection)

Director

* 2010:

(short film) * 2015:

(5 episodes from 2013 to 2015), (TV series) * 2015:

- Das Haus am Ende der Straße (TV series) * 2015: Tatort - Hinter dem Spiegel (TV series) * 2016: Tatort - Die Wahrheit (TV series) * 2016: Long Live Death ''(Tatort - Es lebe der Tod)'', (TV series) * 2016: Tatort - Die Wahrheit (TV series) * 2017: Tatort - Der scheidende Schupo (TV series) * 2017: Hit Mom: Murderous Christmas ''(Hit Mom: Mörderische Weihnachten (TV Movie)'', (TV movie) * 2018: Tatort - Meta (TV series) * 2018: Tatort - KI (TV series) * 2019: Tatort - Ein Tag wie jeder andere (TV series) * 2020: Tatort - Parasomnia (TV series) * 2020: Exit (TV movie) * 2021: Tatort - Pavlovs Köter (TV series)

Editor

* 2003: Der Ärgermacher (feature film) * 2006: Zores (TV movie) * 2008: 1st of May: All Belongs to You (episode ''Uwe''), ''(1. Mai – Helden bei der Arbeit)'' * 2008:

(4 episodes), (TV series) * 2009: Killerjagd. Töte mich, wenn du kannst (TV movie) * 2009: Parkour (feature film) * 2010: Interview (short film) * 2011: Schreie der Vergessenen (TV movie) * 2015: 100 Code (3 episodes), (crime drama series) * 2018: Tatort - Meta (TV series) * 2018: Tatort - KI (TV series) * 2019: Tatort - Ein Tag wie jeder andere (TV series) * 2020: Exit (TV movie)

Awards and nominations

Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre (Argentina) 2010 * Prize ''Mejor Director Cortometraje'' (Best Short Film - Director) in the category ''Sección De Cortometrajes'' (Short Film Section) for Sebastian Marka Indie Fest (USA) 2010 * ''Award of Merit'' in the category ''short film'' for Sebastian Marka Oaxaca FilmFest (Mexico) 2010 * Prize ''Best short film'' for Sebastian Marka Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (England) 2011 * Prize ''Best Short Film'' for Sebastian Marka FEC Festival (European Short Film Festival) (Spain) 2011 * ''Audience Award'' in the category ''European Competition'' for Sebastian Marka Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis (Germany) 2011 * Nomination for the ''Short Film Award'' for Sebastian Marka

Oldenburg International Film Festival The Oldenburg International Film Festival has covered the international movie scene in all aspects since 1994. It is situated in Oldenburg, Germany. Its open-minded approach leads to a mixture of movie premieres and original independent productio ...

(Germany) 2011 * Nomination for the ''German Independence Award – Bester Kurzfilm'' (German Independence Award – Best Short film) for Sebastian Marka

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

(USA) 2011 * Nomination for the ''Golden Space Needle Award'' in the category ''Best Short Film'' for Sebastian Marka (

Second runner up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

)

Miami Short Film Festival The Miami Short Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Mi ...

(USA) 2012 * Prize ''Best Narrative'' for Sebastian Marka

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...

(USA) 2012 * Prize ''Best Narrative Short'' for Sebastian Marka Pentedattilo Film Festival (Italy) 2012 * Prize ''Best Short'' in the category ''Thriller'' for Sebastian Marka Festival des deutschen Films (Germany) 2016 * Nomination for the ''Ludwigshafener Filmkunstpreis'' in the category ''Best German Film'' for ''Long Live Death''

2017 * Festival Award in the category ''International Narrative Feature'' for ''Long Live Death''

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.Erol Yesilkaya Erol Yesilkaya (born Juny 6, 1976 in Istanbul) is a Turkish-German screenwriter. Life and work Erol Yesilkaya was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1976 and then moved with his parents to Krefeld, where he grew up. After he finished the Gymnasium and ...

(Screenplay) and Sebastian Marka (Director) in the category ''Fiction'' for ''Tatort: Die Wahrheit''

2017 *

Audience award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Example ...

in the category ''Episodic Competition / Long Form'' for ''Long Live Death'' Grimme-Preis 2019 * Grimme-Preis (Grimme-Award) for Erol Yesilkaya (Screenplay) and Sebastian Marka (Director) in the category ''Outstanding Individual Achievement - Fiction'' for ''Tatort: Meta''

References

External links

*
Sebastian Marka
at

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marka, Sebastian German film directors German film editors German directors German editors 1978 births Living people People from Geneva