Director

Christian Petzold

Directing

Career Snapshot

Explained

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Directed credits

Established

Strong directing catalog.

TMDB popularity

0.4

Low visibility

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Directed movies: 18Directed series: 1All crew credits: 27

TMDB ID: 2332

IMDb ID: nm0678857

Known for: Directing

Born: September 14, 1960

Age: 65

Place of birth: Hilden, Germany

Gender: Male

Adult content flag: No

Career span: 1971 - 2025

Years active: 55

Average TMDB rating: 6.59

Wikidata: Q67268

Frequent jobs

Director (14)Director of Photography (3)Assistant Director (2)Screenplay (4)Writer (2)Co-Producer (1)Sound (1)

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Biography

Christian Petzold (born September 14, 1960; Hilden) is a German filmmaker, best known for directing the films Barbara, Jerichow, and Phoenix. He is credited to the Berlin School and has received numerous prizes and awards. Petzold writes his own scenarios, often collaborating with Harun Farocki. As his former teacher at dffb, Farocki was a major influence on Petzold, who, along with Angela Schanelec and Thomas Arslan, is generally considered to be part of the Berlin School. While the Berlin School is often associated with a new turn towards realism and political cinema, Petzold's films, while they address issues of work and employment, also deal with conflicts between life and death. His first film was "Pilots" (1995), which he directed for his film school graduation in 1995. While "The State I Am In" (2000) was his first feature film, also noting his first collaboration with Harun Farocki. In 2005, his film "Ghosts"was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival, as was his 2007 film "Yella". Petzold's film Barbara (2012) competed in competition at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and Petzold won the Silver Bear for Best Director. The film was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. For the film Afire (2023), Christian Petzold received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in 2023.