Angela Schanelec (; born 14 February 1962) is a German actress, film director, screenwriter, and translator.
Her film ''
Places in Cities'' was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
section at the
1998 Cannes Film Festival
The 51st Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 1998. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese served as jury president for the main competition. Isabelle Huppert was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Greek filmmaker Theo A ...
.
In 2019, Schanelec won the
Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director () is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition ...
, for her film ''
I Was at Home, But
''I Was at Home, But'' () is a 2019 German-Serbian drama film directed by Angela Schanelec. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Director ...
,'' at the
69th Berlin International Film Festival
The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019. French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President.
Lone Scherfig's drama film '' The Kindness of Strangers'' opened the festival. The Golden ...
.
During the
73rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since 70th Berlin International Film Festival, the 70th in 2020. The fe ...
, in 2023, Schanelec won the
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, for
''Music''.
Biography
Schanelec was born in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg, in Germany. Her artistic career began as an actress onstage.
Today she is best known for her career as a filmmaker, which began during her time at the
Berlin Film and Television Academy (dffb). There, she studied under
Harun Farocki and Hartmut Bitomsky.
She met
Christian Petzold and
Thomas Arslan, with whom she has comprised the so-called first wave of the
Berlin School. During this time, she produced her thesis film, ''I Stayed in Berlin All Summer'', a 47-minute featurette.
Schanelec, Petzold and Arslan found support in the budding artistic scene of
post-reunification Berlin, and in the production company Schramm Film, operated by Michael Weber and Florian Koerner von Gustorf.
Since graduating from dffb, she has written and directed 7 features and contributed segments to the anthology films ''
Bridges of Sarajevo'' and ''
Germany 09''.
Critical reception
Schanelec's films have premiered at numerous renowned film festivals, including the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, and the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. Critics have generally embraced her cinematic style, which almost exclusively employs lengthy, static shots with little action and ambiguous emotional content, tenuously connected by a narrative. Marco Abel, a scholar of the Berlin School, argues that her films function through "affective images" which reach the viewer primarily through their visual content, mostly without requiring narrative context.
She is frequently compared to several European avant-garde filmmakers, such as
Chantal Akerman
Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York.
Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
,
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...
,
and
Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...
, whom she has cited as an important influence. However, Derek Elley, writing for
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, called ''Places in Cities'' a "joyless snoozer" and remarked that Schanelec's films "throw out no emotional lifelines for the viewer."
An image from Schanelec's film ''Afternoon'' appears on the cover of the book ''Cinemas of Therapeutic Activism: Depression and the Politics of Existence'' (Amsterdam University Press, 2020).
Filmography
As Filmmaker
* 1991 - ''Lovely Yellow Color'' (short)
* 1992 - ''Far Away'' (short)
* 1992 - ''Prague, March '92'' (short - documentary)
* 1992 - ''Über das Entgegenkommen'' (short)
* 1994 - ''I Stayed in Berlin All Summer''
* 1995 - ''My Sister's Good Fortune''
* 1998 - ''
Places in Cities''
* 2001 - ''Passing Summer''
* 2004 - ''
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
''
* 2007 - ''Afternoon''
* 2009 - ''
Germany 09: 13 Short Films About The State Of The Nation'' (segment: ''First Day)''
* 2010 - ''
Orly
Orly () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris.
The name of Orly came from Latin ''Aureliacum'', "the villa of Aurelius".
Orly Airport partially lies on the territory of the c ...
''
* 2014 - ''
Bridges of Sarajevo'' (segment: Principe, texte)
* 2016 - ''The Dreamed Path''
* 2019 - ''
I Was at Home, But
''I Was at Home, But'' () is a 2019 German-Serbian drama film directed by Angela Schanelec. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Director ...
''
* 2023 - ''
Music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
''
As actress
* 1984 - ''Die Familie oder Schroffenstein'' (TV movie), as Agnes
* 1985 - ''
The Death of the White Stallion'', as Anna
* 1994 - ''I Stayed in Berlin All Summer'', as Nadine
* 1995 - ''My Sister's Good Fortune'', as Isabel
* 1997 - ''Daily Chicken'', as Frau Rötting
* 1999 - ''Dealer'', as Eva
* 1999 - ''Dragonland'' (TV movie), as Mother
* 2001 - ''Passing Summer'', as Thomas' geschiedene Frau
* 2007 - ''Afternoon'', as Irene
* 2014 - ''A House in Berlin'', as Käthe Blacher
* 2015 - ''Take What You Can Carry'' (short), as Angela
Accolades
* 2019 -
Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director () is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition ...
, for ''
I Was at Home, But
''I Was at Home, But'' () is a 2019 German-Serbian drama film directed by Angela Schanelec. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Director ...
''
* 2023 -
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, for
''Music''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schanelec, Angela
1962 births
Living people
20th-century German actresses
21st-century German actresses
German film actresses
People from Aalen
Film people from Baden-Württemberg
Silver Bear for Best Director recipients
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay winners
Actresses from Baden-Württemberg