Wolfgang Becker (born 22 June 1954) 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. ...

, best known to international audiences for his work ''

Good Bye Lenin! ''Good Bye Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is dedica ...

'' (2003).

Biography

Becker studied

Germanistics The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, History and American Studies at the Free University in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He followed this with a job at a sound studio in 1980 and then began studies at the German Film and Television Academy (dffb). He started working as a freelance cameraman in 1983 and graduated from the dffb in 1986 with ''Schmetterlinge'' (Butterflies), which won the

Student Academy Award The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first ...

in 1988, the Golden Leopard at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

, and the

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

Prime-Minister's Award at the 1988 Saarbrücken. He directed an episode of the television drama ''

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 b ...

'', titled "Blutwurstwalzer", before making his second feature ''Kinderspiele'' (''Child's Play'', 1992) and the documentary ''Celibidache'' (1992). In 1994, he co-founded the production company "X Filme Creative Pool" with

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films '' Run Lola Run'' (1998), '' Heaven'' (2002), '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer ...

Stefan Arndt Stefan Arndt (born 1961) is a German film producer and managing partner of X-Filme Creative Pool, which he started with fellow friends Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker and Dani Levy. X-Filme is one of Germany's most prosperous and famous production c ...

, and

Dani Levy Dani Levy (born 17 November 1957) is a Swiss filmmaker, theatrical director, screenwriter and actor. Biography Levy was born to a Jewish family in Switzerland in 1957.

. From there he worked with Tykwer on the

Berlinale 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 ...

competition feature '' Das Leben ist eine Baustelle'' (''Life is All You Get'', 1997). He was a member of the jury at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

in 2004.

Filmography

* ''

Schmetterlinge ''Schmetterlinge'' ("Butterflies") is a West German film directed by Wolfgang Becker. It won the Golden Leopard at the 1988 Locarno International Film Festival. Reception It won the Golden Leopard at the 1988 Locarno International Film Festival ...

'' (1988) * ''

'' (TV series) (1 episode, "Blutwurstwalzer") (1991) * ''Child's Play'' (''Kinderspiele'') (1992) – ''also writer'' * '' Life Is All You Get'' (''Das Leben ist eine Baustelle'') (1997) – ''also writer and actor'' * ''

Good Bye, Lenin! ''Good Bye Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is dedica ...

'' (2003) – ''co-writer'' * ''Welcome to São Paulo'' (''Bem-Vindo a São Paulo'') (2004) (segment) * ''Ballero'' (2005) – ''also writer'' * '' Germany 09: 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation'' (2009) (segment "Krankes Haus") – ''also writer'' * '' Me and Kaminski'' (2015) – ''also writer''

Awards

* 1997

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 fest ...

, Honourable Mention for ''Das Leben ist eine Baustelle'' * 1998

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

, Best Productio

for ''Das Leben ist eine Baustelle'' * 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, Blue Angel for ''Good Bye Lenin!'' * 2003

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

, Audience Award for Best Director for ''Good Bye Lenin!'' * 2004

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

, Best European Film for ''Good Bye Lenin!'' * 2004 Bavarian Film Awards, Audience Award for ''Good Bye Lenin!'' * 2004

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

, Best European Union Film for ''Good Bye Lenin!''

References

External links

*
BBC interview following ''Good Bye Lenin!''
webpage retrieved 10 May 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Wolfgang 1954 births Living people People from Hemer European Film Awards winners (people) Mass media people from North Rhine-Westphalia Free University of Berlin alumni Best Director German Film Award winners