Götz Spielmann (born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian director and scriptwriter.

Early Life

Spielmann was born in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

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 ...

, 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. ...

. After High School, he lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied film direction and script-writing in Vienna at the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

. At the Viennese Filmacadamy, his professors included Harald Zusanek and Axel Corti.

Career

After making several short films, and receiving his diploma with ''Vergiss Sneider!,'' with the drama ''Erwin und Julia'', Spielmann had his first great success. In 1993, his film ''Der Nachbar'' won the ''Vienna Filmaward'' at the

Viennale The Vienna International Film Festival, or Viennale, is a film festival taking place every October since 1960 in Vienna, Austria. The average number of visitors is about 75,000. Traditional cinema venues are ''Gartenbaukino'', ''Urania'', ''Met ...

. And in 1994, his film for television ''Dieses naive Verlangen'' was awarded with the ''Erich-Neuberg-Preis''. In 2006, he was honored with the ''Upper Austrian Landeskulturpreis'' in the “Film” section. Spielmann is one of the most important contemporary Austrian film directors. His films ''The Stranger'' and ''

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

'' were the Austrian candidates for Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. ''Antares'' has been screened widely at more than thirty International Film Festivals. Spielmann is on the committee of the ''Verband der Filmregisseure Österreichs'' (the Association of the Austrian film directors). In the Linzer Kammerspiele (

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

) he made his debut as theatre director with the performance of the play ''Der einsame Weg'', written by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

. For the season 2006/2007, he wrote his first play for the theatre, the

Landestheater Linz The Linz State Theatre () is a theatre in Linz, Austria. The largest theater in Upper Austria (OÖ), it consists of three venues: the Musiktheater am Volksgarten, the Schauspielhaus (formerly Großes Haus) and the Kammerspiele on the Promenade in ...

, ''Imperium'', which was first released on 5 January 2007 at the Linzer Kammerspiele. In January 2009 Spielmann's '' Revanche'' was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Filmography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spielmann, Gotz 1961 births Living people People from Wels Austrian film directors 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian screenwriters 21st-century Austrian screenwriters Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Austrian male screenwriters English-language film directors German-language film directors