Ulrike Ottinger (born 6 June 1942) is a German filmmaker and photographer.
Early life
From 1959 she was a visiting student at the
Academy of Arts in Munich and worked as a painter. Her mother, Maria Weinberg, was a journalist and her father, Ulrich Ottinger, was a painter.
From 1962 to 1968, Ottinger worked as a freelance artist in Paris and studied etching with
Johnny Friedlaender
Johnny Friedlaender (26 December 1912 – 18 June 1992) was a leading German/French 20th-century artist, whose works have been exhibited in Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Japan and the United States. He has been influential upon oth ...
among other studies. They participated in several exhibitions.
Film career
The films of Ottinger have been said to "reject or parody the conventions of art cinema and search for new ways to construct visual pleasure, creating various spectator positions usually neglected or marginalized by cinematic address". Her films include strong elements of stylization and fantasy, as well as ethnographic explorations.
In 1966 she wrote her first screenplay, entitled ''Die Mongolische Doppelschublade''.
Ottinger returned to
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in 1969 and, in cooperation with the Film Seminar at the University of Konstanz, founded the film club "Visuell", which she directed until 1972. She also headed a gallery and the associated "galeriepress”, where they edited works by contemporary artists.
During this time she met
Tabea Blumenschein and , both of whom have been cast as lead actresses in her films since 1972. Ottinger developed her own bizarre surrealist film-style, which among other things, was marked by widespread abandonment of a linear plot and instead linger long in individual scenes, which in turn make überstarke and extravagant costumes of the imagination mostly female cast artfully to own collages were designed.
She directed and did stage design for
Elfriede Jelinek
Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors writing in German today and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voi ...
's ''Clara S.'' at the Württembergisches Staatstheater 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 ...
in 1983, and did the same for Jelinek's ''Begierde und Fahrerlaubnis'' in Graz in 1986. In 1989, her film ''
Joan of Arc of Mongolia
''Joan of Arc of Mongolia'' (german: Johanna D'Arc of Mongolia) is a 1989 West German drama film directed by Ulrike Ottinger. It was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2017, it screened for a week at the Museum of Moder ...
'', with
Delphine Seyrig
Delphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig (; 10 April 1932 – 15 October 1990) was a Lebanese-born French actress and film director. She came to prominence in Alain Resnais's 1961 film ''Last Year at Marienbad'', and later acted in films by Francois ...
who acted in many of her films, was entered into the
39th Berlin International Film Festival.
In 2003, Ottinger was selected for a solo exhibition at the
Renaissance Society
The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...
in Chicago. Titled ''South East Passage'', the work "is in three chapters - a travelogue of the artist's journey from southeast Poland to the Bulgarian shores of the Black Sea and a portrait of two coastal cities, Odessa and Istanbul". ''South East Passage'' was the first of a two-part series of exhibits exploring Eastern European video work.
On the occasion of the 2009 New York premiere of ''
The Korean Wedding Chest'', with Ottinger to be in attendance, ''The New York Times'' characterized the director as, "
ring the 1980s heyday of the
New German Cinema
New German Cinema (german: Neuer Deutscher Film) is a period in German cinema which lasted from 1962 to 1982, in which a new generation of directors emerged who, working with low budgets, and influenced by the French New Wave and Italian Neorea ...
, having constituted a one-woman avant-garde opposition to the sulky male melodramas of
Wenders,
Fassbinder and
Herzog
''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...
, her films being long, discursive and wildly inventive."
Ottinger's films, with their preference for the Far Eastern formal language is visible, turned in the following decades, some unconventional documentaries about life in various Asian regions. Ottinger was to direct the horror-drama film ''Die Blutgräfin'', based on the life of
Elisabeth Bathory
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
; however, the project has not been produced as of January 2015.
Other activities
Ottinger has also worked as a photographer,
lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
and painter. Since 2019, she has been a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
.
Personal life
Ottinger has lived in Berlin since 1973. She has always been openly lesbian.
[The St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia (edited by Amy L. Unterburger), Visible Ink press, 1999, p.319]
Filmography
*1972: ''Laokoon & Söhne'' (''Laocoön & Sons'')
*1973: ''Berlin-Fieber'' (Documentary film about the Happening ''Berlin-Fieber'' by
Wolf Vostell
Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happenings and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are ch ...
)
*1975: ' (''Die Betörung der blauen Matrosen'')
*1976: ''VOAEX'' (Documentary film about the making of Wolf Vostell sculpture ''VOAEX'' in Spain)
*1978: ''Madame X – Eine absolute Herrscherin'' (''
Madame X: An Absolute Ruler'')
*1979: ''
Ticket of No Return'' (''Bildnis einer Trinkerin'')
*1981: ''
Freak Orlando''
*1984: ' (''Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse'')
*1986: ''China. Die Künste – der Alltag'' (''China. The Arts – the People'')
*1986: ''Sieben Frauen – Sieben Todsünden'' (''Seven Women, Seven Sins'')
*1989: ''
Joan of Arc of Mongolia
''Joan of Arc of Mongolia'' (german: Johanna D'Arc of Mongolia) is a 1989 West German drama film directed by Ulrike Ottinger. It was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2017, it screened for a week at the Museum of Moder ...
''
*1990: ''Countdown''
*1992: ''
Taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...
''
*1997: ''Exil Shanghai'' (''Exile Shanghai'')
*2002: ''Südostpassage'' (''Southeast Passage'')
*2004: ''Zwölf Stühle'' (''Twelve Chairs'')
*2007: ''Prater''
*2009: ''Still Moving'' (short)
*2009: ''
The Korean Wedding Chest''
*2011: ''Under Snow''
*2016: ''Chamisso's Shadow: A Journey to the Bering Sea in Three Chapters''
*2020: ''Paris Calligrammes''
Further reading
Primary literature
* Ulrike Ottinger. 'Ulrike Ottinger'. MNCARS, 2013.
* Ulrike Ottinger. 'Floating Food'. Walther König, 2011.
* Ulrike Ottinger. 'Image Archive'. Nürnberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst, 2006.
Secondary literature
* Laurence A. Rickels. 'Ulrike Ottinger: The Autobiography of Art Cinema'. University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
* Tanja Nusser. 'Von und zu anderen Ufern. Ulrike Ottingers filmische Reiseerzählungen'. Köln: Böhlau, 2002.
See also
*
List of female film and television directors
This is a list of female film and television directors. Their works may include live action and/or animated features, shorts, documentaries, telemovies, TV programs, or videos.
A
* Jennifer Abbott (Canada)
* Sarah Abbott (Canada
* Jenni ...
*
List of lesbian filmmakers
This is a list of lesbian filmmakers. The names listed include directors, producers, and screenwriters of feature films, television movies, documentaries and short films; and have received coverage or been recognized in reliable, authoritative me ...
*
List of LGBT-related films directed by women
This is a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related films that were directed by women. LGBT-themed films directed by women – especially, but not exclusively, lesbian-themed movies – are an important and distinct subset of the gen ...
References
External links
Official siteUlrike Ottinger.Faculty profile at
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta.
History
It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, Pao ...
(Biography, filmography, and videos)
*
Ulrike Ottinger - Nomad from the Lake Die Nomaden Vom Seeat
Women Make Movies
Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist media arts organization based in New York City. Founded by Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, WMM was first a feminist production collective that emerged from city-wide Women's Li ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottinger, Ulrike
1942 births
Living people
German documentary filmmakers
German feminists
Film people from Baden-Württemberg
Lesbian artists
LGBT film directors
Women documentary filmmakers
LGBT artists from Germany
People from Konstanz
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni
European Graduate School faculty
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany