Stefan Ruzowitzky (born 25 December 1961) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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. ...

Early life

Ruzowitzky was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He studied drama and history at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and started directing

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s, for example for 'N Sync, and

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

Movie career

In 1996, Ruzowitzky presented his first feature film, ''Tempo'', about a group of youths living in Vienna. He was subsequently awarded with the ''Max Ophüls Preis''. His next feature film, '' The Inheritors'', set in the rural Mühlviertel in

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

, came out in 1998, and was awarded ''Best Picture'' at the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

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 ...

as well as at the ''

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Film Festival''. It also got a prize at the

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 upo ...

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

. In 2000 he directed the successful

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

'', starring

Franka Potente Franka Potente (; born 22 July 1974) is a German actress. She first appeared in the comedy film '' After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995), for which she won a Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in 1998, when sh ...

, and in 2003 the equally well received sequel ''

Anatomy 2 ''Anatomy 2'' (german: Anatomie 2) is a 2003 German thriller film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. It is the sequel to the 2000 film ''Anatomy'', that starred Franka Potente. The story moves to Berlin for this film. Plot The Heidel ...

''. Between those two Ruzowitzky's first international co-production ''

All the Queen's Men ''All the Queen's Men'' is a 2001 English-language action comedy war film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and starring Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard. Made on a budget of $15 million, the film received heavily negative reviews from critics, and ...

'' from 2001, starring

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...

and

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

, was received poorly by both critics and viewers. In 2007 Ruzowitzky's '' The Counterfeiters'' premiered at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

and was nominated for a ''Golden Bear'' award. The film is based on the memories of Adolf Burger, a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Slovak typographer and

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor involved in

Operation Bernhard Operation Bernhard was an exercise by Nazi Germany to forge British bank notes. The initial plan was to drop the notes over Britain to bring about a collapse of the British economy during the Second World War. The first phase was run from early ...

. ''The Counterfeiters'', nominated on behalf of Austrian cinema, won the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Foreign Language Film at the

80th Academy Awards The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007. The award ceremony took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During t ...

on 24 February 2008. In 2013, he directed the 90-minute non-fiction drama ''Das radikal Böse'' which by means of authentic letters and interviewing psychology, military, and history experts seeks to explain the mentality of 'ordinary' members of

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...

and

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

soldiers that carried out the Holocaust, mainly based upon Christopher Browning's 1992 book ''Ordinary Men'' which assigns the efficiency of the German killing machinery to social mechanisms of conformism and peer pressure rather than racial hatred. He is currently working on the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

''The Last Voyage of the Demeter'', which is based on

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's Dracula tale, and the

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

''Braincopy''.Anatomie Director Set to Offer Up a Braincopy
/ref> On 2 May 2014, Deadline Hollywood announced that Ruzowitzky will direct Screen Gems' action-thriller '' Patient Zero'' based on an original script by

Mike Le Mike Nguyen Le (also credited as Mike Le) is a Vietnamese American screenwriter, producer, and film director. Screenwriting Le wrote and co-executive produced the feature horror film ''Dark Summer'' (2014), directed by Paul Solet and starring ...

. The film stars

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...

and

Natalie Dormer Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982)The Inheritors'' – writer & director *2000 – ''

'' – writer & director *2001 – ''

'' – director *2003 – ''

'' – writer & director *2007 – '' The Counterfeiters'' – writer & director *2009 – '' Lilly the Witch: The Dragon and the Magic Book'' – writer & director *2012 – '' Deadfall'' – director *2017 – ''

Cold Hell ''Cold Hell'' (german: Die Hölle) is a 2017 German–Austrian thriller film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. Cast * Violetta Schurawlow - Özge Dogruol * Tobias Moretti - Christian Steiner * Robert Palfrader - Samir * Sammy Sheik - Saeed el ...

'' – director *2017 – '' Patient Zero'' – director *2019 - ''8 Tage'' - director *2020: - ''Narziss und Goldmund'' - director *2021: – ''

Hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

'' – director

Oscar

*2007 – '' The Counterfeiters'' for Best Foreign Language Film (won)

Opera

In 2010, Ruzowitzky directed his first opera production, ''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 181 ...

'', for Vienna's

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

. The cast included his ''Counterfeiters''-star

Karl Markovics Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria. Biography Markovics' mother worked as a clerk and his father was a bus driver. Markovics did not want to go into a professional career but wanted to become a ...

in the non-singing role of ''Samiel'', the production was conducted by

Bertrand de Billy Bertrand de Billy (born Paris, 11 January 1965) is a French conductor. He attended a Jesuit school, but only started serious musical studies when he was around 14–15; he studied piano and violin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruzowitzky, Stefan 1961 births Austrian film directors Austrian screenwriters Austrian male screenwriters English-language film directors Living people Film people from Vienna Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners