Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as '' Comedian Harmonists''.

Life

Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Vilsmaier attended a boarding school near

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. He then trained as a technician to make film cameras, and studied piano at the Musikhochschule München. He was a member of a jazz group. After working as a technician, he moved into film, first as a material and camera assistant, then from 1961 as a cameraman. He filmed episodes of television series such as ''

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 ...

''. His debut film as director, '' Herbstmilch'' in 1988, starring his wife, Dana Vávrová, was a huge success. In 1995, he directed '' Schlafes Bruder'', after the novel by

Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk ...

. In 1997, he directed '' Comedian Harmonists'' which became an international success. For the films he directed, Vilsmaier was also the producer and first cameraman. While filming '' Der Letzte Zug'' in 2005, probably the last film produced by

Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 – 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946. Life and career He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family ...

, he was injured when he fell off a camera tower. Subsequently, his ability to work was limited, and his wife took over directing the film. The couple was awarded the special jury prize at the 2006 Bavarian Film Awards for ''Der letzte Zug''. Vávrová died on 5 February 2009. The couple had three daughters, , , and , all of whom became actresses and starred in a number of their films. Vilsmaier died on 11 February 2020.

Awards

* Bavarian Film Awards ** 1990 Best Production ** 1992 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Producing, Best Cinematography ** 1995 Bavarian Film Award, Best Production ** 1997 Bavarian Film Award, Best Director ** 2006 Bavarian Film Award, Special Prize *

18th Moscow International Film Festival The 18th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 1 to 12 July 1993. The Golden St. George was awarded to the French-Belarusian film '' Me Ivan, You Abraham'' directed by Yolande Zauberman. Jury * Claude Lelouch (France – President o ...

** Nominated – ''Stalingrad''

Filmography

Vilsmaier directed films and television films, including: * '' Herbstmilch'' (1988) * ' (1990) * ''

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

'' (1993) * '' Charlie & Louise – Das doppelte Lottchen'' (1994) * '' Schlafes Bruder'' (1995) * ' (1996) * '' Comedian Harmonists'' (1997) * '' Marlene'' (2000) * '' Leo & Claire'' (2001) * ' (2004) * '' The Last Train (Der letzte Zug)'' (2006) * ' (2008, TV film) * ' (2008) * ''

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

'' (2010) * ' (2012, TV film) * ' (2012, TV film) * ' (2012)

References

External links

* *
Heftige Gefühle entwickeln
(portrait on the occasion of his 80th birthday) , 24 January 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilsmaier, Joseph 1939 births 2020 deaths Film directors from Munich Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany