Peter Krüger (born 9 August 1970) is a Belgian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the fiction film '' N – The Madness of Reason'' (2014), winning the Ensor Award for Best Film, and '' Antwerp Central'' (2011) winning the Grand Prize at this 29th International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal.
Early life
Krüger is the only child from the marriage of Jan Krüger, a Belgian
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, and Agnes Claeys, historian. He was born and raised in
Ghent
Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
. In 1978 he began studying music at the Music School and later studied piano with the Belgian pianist and composer Claude Coppens at the Royal Conservatory. In 1988 he went to
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...
where he attended the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
to study American Literature and Art History. In 1989 he returned to Belgium and to attend classes at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven and the Institute for Cultural Studies (Instituut voor Culturele Studies). By 1994, Krüger graduated with a master's degree in philosophy from the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
In addition to its main camp ...
.
After graduating, Krüger began studying film script writing, directing, and producing. He took a Basic Script Writing course at the Flemish Script Academy (Vlaamse Script Academie) in Brussels and completed several European training programs supported by the
MEDIA Programme
The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries.
Administration
MEDIA is an abbreviation from Fre ...
of the European Union: North by Northwest, the Northern European screen writing development program in Copenhagen,
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, and Dublin; and Strategic Film Financing, and Strategic Film Marketing in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. In 2000 Krüger went to
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, United States to study a Master Class Film Directing with American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer Paul Schneider; and in Los Angeles, United States he enrolled in an acting workshop with the American, author, script analyst, and actress Judith Weston.
Career
In 1993, Krüger co-founded, with Belgian writer and director Peter Brosens, Inti Films, a Brussels-based film production company. At Inti Films Krüger produced, amongst others, such award-winning films as 2012's ''
Kinshasa Kids
''Kinshasa Kids'' is a Belgian drama film,''Kinshasa Kids'' '''', an official selection at Venice Days; Renzo Martens' 2013 '' Enjoy Poverty'', an art film on the exploitation of third world poverty; and Peter Brosens' internationally acclaimed ''Mongolia trilogy'', consisting of the documentaries ''City of the Steppes'' (1993), '' State of Dogs'' (1998) and ''Poets of Mongolia'' (1999).
Krüger directed the award-winning '' Antwerp Central'', a documentary-feature from Sophimages, which was produced by Jan Roekens. The film, which is based on the book '' Austerlitz'' by
W. G. Sebald
Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001), known as W. G. Sebald or (as he preferred) Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was according to ''The New Yorker'' ”widely recog ...
, features Antwerp's main railway station as a location where history, daily life, fiction, and reality are in constant flux. Running as a thread through the film are the dreams and reminiscences of a traveler, who arrives at Antwerp Central and through whose eyes we observe the station. The traveler is played by Belgian actor
Johan Leysen
Johan Leysen (19 February 1950 – 30 March 2023) was a Belgian actor. He appeared in more than 130 films and television shows from 1977. He starred in the film '' De grens'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Canne ...
(who in 2010 appeared with acclaimed actor
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...
in The American). '' Antwerp Central'' won the Grand Prix at the 29th International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal.
Krüger's second feature film, '' N – The Madness of Reason'', was written in collaboration with Nigerian-born poet and novelist
Ben Okri
Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-born British poet and novelist.Ben Okri" ...
Michael Lonsdale
Michael Edward Lonsdale Crouch (24 May 1931 – 21 September 2020), commonly known as Michael Lonsdale and sometimes as Michel Lonsdale, was a French-British actor and author who appeared in over 180 films and television shows. He is often ...
), a French man who left Europe and who dies in 1988 in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
. His spirit wanders across the West-African continent and evokes a confrontation between European and West-African culture. The film was released at the Berlinale 2014 and is three times winner of the ENSOR awards at the 2015
Ostend Film Festival The Ostend Film Festival () is an annual film festival held in Ostend, Belgium. The film voted by a jury as the best in the competition section receives the Best Film Award. It was launched in 2007 and has been held every year in September. In 2022 ...
. In 2014 '' N – The Madness of Reason'' received the Jury Award for Best Film at Cine Migrante International Film Festival,
Brasília
Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, Brazil.
In 2017, Krüger was announced to direct a film adaptation of Ben Okri's 2014 novel ''The Age of Magic''."Peter Krüger verfilmt laatste roman Ben Okri" LBU, Bruzz.be, 13 February 2017.