Feo Aladag is an Austrian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, producer, and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She is the producer,

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

, director and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

of the multi-awarded feature films “ ''When we leave''”, “''

Inbetween Worlds ''Inbetween Worlds'' () is a 2014 German drama film produced, written and directed by Feo Aladag. The film tells the story of a friendship between the German soldier Jesper and his young Afghan interpreter Tarik. Both men are confronted with th ...

''” and “''Alone – A Family story''” (aka “''The Boy who wants to live''”). She runs the production house Independent Artists GmbH, based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Early life and acting

Aladag was born as Feodora Schenk in 1972 and grew up in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

; Her mother is the Swiss born Jewish painter Gina Schenk-Roche, her deceased father was Sebastian Schenk, architect, son of Princess Feodora (Feo) Auersperg, née Countess

Solms-Baruth Solms-Baruth was a Lower Lusatian state country, from 16th century until 1945, ruled by the Baruth branch of the House of Solms. History The House of Solms had its origins at Solms, Hesse, and ruled several of the many minor states of the Holy R ...

. Aladag is the great granddaughter of Prinz Friedrich of Solms-Baruth III, who is listed as one of the

Resistance fighters During World War II, resistance movements operated in German-occupied Europe by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

against

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. She began her film career as an

, completing her training in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Vienna from 1990–1995. While studying acting she also completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

Communication Science Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

in 2000. Before she started writing, producing, and directing, she worked as an actress and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for more than a decade. She acted in numerous film and television productions while attending master-classes and directing seminars at the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...

and the

German Film and Television Academy The Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB, German Film and Television Academy Berlin) is a film school in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1966. In the German film school rankings by FOCUS in 2006 (Issue 22), the DFFB was ranked 2nd a ...

. From 2003 to 2005 she attended the directing master class of

Michael Radford Michael James Radford (born 24 February 1946) is an English film director and screenwriter. He began his career as a documentary director and television comedy writer before transitioning into features in the early 1980s. His best-known credi ...

and

Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work on '' Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers' ...

at the

. From 2004 to 2005 she attended the directing seminars of

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

Fernando Solanas Fernando Ezequiel "Pino" Solanas (16 February 1936 – 6 November 2020) was an Argentine film director, screenwriter, Film score, score composer and politician. His films include; ''The Hour of the Furnaces, La hora de los hornos (The Hour of the ...

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...

and

Peter Lilienthal Peter Lilienthal (27 November 1927 – 28 April 2023) was a German film director, writer, actor and producer. He is most associated with being a liberal director of New German Cinema in the 1970s. Early life As a child, in 1939, Lilienthal emig ...

at the

Berlin. During this time she also maintained a career as a successful scriptwriter and commercial film director; directing various spots for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, Wrigley´s and others and writing scripts for the German television series

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

Personal life

In 2002 Aladag married fellow director

Züli Aladağ Züli Aladağ (born 2 January 1968, Van, Turkey) is a German film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is of Kurdish and Turkish descent. Biography Aladağ immigrated to Germany in 1973 and grew up in Stuttgart. After a short theatre ...

. They divorced in 2012. Feo Aladag lives in Berlin with her four children.WZ-Online: Interview mit Kurzvita - Regisseurin Feo Aladag: „Aus Respekt zeige ich keine toten Soldaten“
/ref> She speaks English, French and German and writes in German and English.

''When We Leave''

Aladag's directorial debut ''

When We Leave ''When We Leave'' (, ) is a 2010 German-Turkish drama film, produced, written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Feo Aladag. The film received worldwide acclaim and represented Aladag's debut as a producer, writer, and director. ''When We Leav ...

'' had its world premiere at the

60th Berlin International Film Festival The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as president of the jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama '' Apart Together'', in com ...

in 2010, where it won the Europa Cinema Label Award. It went on to win the World Narrative Feature Competition at the 2010

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, as well as the

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

for Best Actress for

Sibel Kekilli Sibel Kekilli (born 16 June 1980) is a German actress. She gained public attention after starring in the 2004 film '' Head-On''. She won two Lolas, the most prestigious German film award, for her performances in ''Head-On'' and '' When We Leave ...

, and the for Best Film in Bronze. The film's festival run included several international film festivals, where it won some "best of" and audience awards at festivals like the

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...

, the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival and the Angers European First Film Festival in France. ''

'' was selected as the German entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

''Inbetween Worlds''

In June 2013, Independent Artists wrapped their new feature film ''

'', which was secretly filmed on location in the region of

Mazar-i-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...

and

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

in Afghanistan. ''Inbetween Worlds'' had its premiere at the competition section of the

64th Berlin International Film Festival The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' opened the festival. British film director Ken Loach was presented with the Golden Bear#Golden Bear .E2.80. ...

in 2014 and was nominated for the German Directors Award Metropolis and the VGF Producers Newcomers Award in 2014.

Independent Artists GmbH

In 2005 Aladag founded Independent Artists GmbH. Based in Berlin, Germany, Independent Artists was the production company behind ''

'' and ''

'', as well as Aladag's upcoming projects.

References

External links

*
Independent Artists, Feo Aladag's Berlin-Based Production Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aladag, Feo 1972 births Living people Austrian film actresses Austrian film directors Austrian television actresses Austrian women film directors Actresses from Vienna