Ulrike Ottinger (born 6 June 1942) is a German filmmaker and photographer.

Early life

In 1959 Ulrike Ottinger began studying at the Academy of Arts in Munich and worked as a painter. Her mother, Maria Weinberg, was a journalist and her father, Ulrich Ottinger, was a painter. From 1962 to 1968, Ottinger worked as a freelance artist in Paris and studied etching with Johnny Friedlaender among other studies. They participated in several exhibitions.

Film career

The films of Ottinger have been said to "reject or parody the conventions of art cinema and search for new ways to construct visual pleasure, creating various spectator positions usually neglected or marginalized by cinematic address". Her films include strong elements of stylization and fantasy, as well as ethnographic explorations. In 1966 she wrote her first screenplay, entitled ''Die Mongolische Doppelschublade''. Ottinger returned to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1969 and, in cooperation with the Film Seminar at the University of Konstanz, founded the film club "Visuell", which she directed until 1972. She also headed a gallery and the associated "galeriepress”, where they edited works by contemporary artists. During this time she met

Tabea Blumenschein Tabea Blumenschein (11 August 1952 – 29 February 2020) was a German painter, actress, film director, screenwriter, costume/set designer and musician. Blumenschein was born in Rietheim, Germany. She studied art at Kunstschule Konstanz and moved ...

and , both of whom have been cast as lead actresses in her films since 1972. Ottinger developed her own bizarre surrealist film-style, which among other things, was marked by widespread abandonment of a linear plot and instead linger long in individual scenes, which in turn make überstarke and extravagant costumes of the imagination mostly female cast artfully to own collages were designed. She directed and did stage design for

Elfriede Jelinek Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices ...

's ''Clara S.'' at the Württembergisches Staatstheater in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

in 1983, and did the same for Jelinek's ''Begierde und Fahrerlaubnis'' in Graz in 1986. In 1989, her film '' Joan of Arc of Mongolia'', with Delphine Seyrig who acted in many of her films, was entered into the

39th Berlin International Film Festival The 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1989. The Golden Bear was awarded to American film ''Rain Man'' directed by Barry Levinson. The retrospective was dedicated to German film producer Erich Pommer ...

. In 2003, Ottinger was selected for a solo exhibition at the

Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...

in Chicago. Titled ''South East Passage'', the work "is in three chapters - a travelogue of the artist's journey from southeast Poland to the Bulgarian shores of the Black Sea and a portrait of two coastal cities, Odessa and Istanbul". ''South East Passage'' was the first of a two-part series of exhibits exploring Eastern European video work. On the occasion of the 2009 New York premiere of '' The Korean Wedding Chest'', with Ottinger to be in attendance, ''The New York Times'' characterized the director as, " ring the 1980s heyday of the

New German Cinema New German Cinema () is a period in Cinema of Germany, West German cinema which lasted from 1962 to 1982, in which a new generation of directors emerged who, working with low budgets, and influenced by the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism, ...

, having constituted a one-woman avant-garde opposition to the sulky male melodramas of Wenders, Fassbinder and

Herzog (; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to ...

, her films being long, discursive and wildly inventive." Ottinger's films, with their preference for the Far Eastern formal language is visible, turned in the following decades, some unconventional documentaries about life in various Asian regions. Ottinger was to direct the horror-drama film ''Die Blutgräfin'', based on the life of Elisabeth Bathory; however, the project has not been produced as of January 2015.

Other activities

Ottinger has also worked as a photographer,

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

and painter.Ottinger has been a past faculty member of The European Graduate School and, since 2019, she has been a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

Personal life

Ottinger has lived in Berlin since 1973. She is a lesbian and has always been open about her sexuality.The St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia (edited by Amy L. Unterburger), Visible Ink press, 1999, p.319

Filmography

*1972: ''Laokoon & Söhne'' (''Laocoön & Sons'') *1973: ''Berlin-Fieber'' (Documentary film about the Happening ''Berlin-Fieber'' by

Wolf Vostell Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happenings and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are ...

) *1975: ' (''Die Betörung der blauen Matrosen'') *1976: ''VOAEX'' (Documentary film about the making of Wolf Vostell sculpture ''VOAEX'' in Spain) *1978: ' (''Madame X – Eine absolute Herrscherin'') *1979: '' Ticket of No Return'' (''Bildnis einer Trinkerin'') *1981: ''

Freak Orlando ''Freak Orlando'' is a 1981 West German comedy film directed by Ulrike Ottinger and starring Magdalena Montezuma. Cast * Magdalena Montezuma – Orlando, als Pilger, Orlando Zyldopa, Orlando Orlanda, Orlando Capricho * Hans Langerschlanger ...

'' *1984: ' (''Dorian Gray im Spiegel der Boulevardpresse'') *1986: ''China. Die Künste – der Alltag'' (''China. The Arts – the People'') *1986: ''Sieben Frauen – Sieben Todsünden'' (''Seven Women, Seven Sins'') *1989: '' Joan of Arc of Mongolia'' *1990: ''Countdown'' *1992: ''

Taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

'' *1997: ''Exil Shanghai'' (''Exile Shanghai'') *2002: ''Südostpassage'' (''Southeast Passage'') *2004: ''Zwölf Stühle'' (''Twelve Chairs'') *2007: ''Prater'' *2009: ''Still Moving'' (short) *2009: '' The Korean Wedding Chest'' *2011: ''Under Snow'' *2016: ''Chamisso's Shadow: A Journey to the Bering Sea in Three Chapters'' *2020: ''Paris Calligrammes''

References

External links

Official siteUlrike Ottinger.
Faculty profile at European Graduate School (Biography, filmography, and videos) *
Ulrike Ottinger - Nomad from the Lake Die Nomaden Vom See
at

Women Make Movies Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist media arts organization based in New York City. Founded by Ariel Maria Dougherty, Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, WMM was first a feminist production collective that emerged from ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottinger, Ulrike 1942 births Living people German documentary filmmakers German feminists Film people from Baden-Württemberg Lesbian photographers German LGBTQ film directors Women documentary filmmakers German lesbian artists German LGBTQ photographers People from Konstanz Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academic staff of European Graduate School Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Early life

Film career

Other activities

Personal life

Filmography

Further reading

Primary literature

Secondary literature

See also

References

External links