Christian Petzold (director)
Christian Petzold (born 1960) is a German film director and screenwriter. Petzold is part of the 21st century Berlin School film movement.[1] His films have received international recognition and acclaim. He is known for his frequent collaborations with actresses Nina Hoss and Paula Beer.[2][3] Petzold won the Silver Bear for Best Director for his film Barbara (2012) at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.[4]
For the 18th-century composer, see Christian Petzold (composer).
Christian Petzold
Early life and education[edit]
Born in Hilden and raised in Haan, where he graduated from high school in 1979, Petzold fulfilled his military civil service in a small cinema club of a local YMCA, showing films to troubled adolescents.[5] From 1981 on he lived in Berlin, where he studied theatre and German studies at the Free University of Berlin. From 1988 to 1994, he studied film at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb) where he studied with mentors who "included filmmakers, media artists, and media theorists Harun Farocki and Hartmut Bitomsky, who are both known for their non-narrative films, video work, and film installations in galleries and museums."[6] While at dffb, Petzold appeared in Thomas Arslan's short experimental film 19 Porträts (1990), a 16-millimeter black-and-white film in the tradition of Andy Warhol's Screen Tests.[6]
Political views[edit]
In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Petzold signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[16][17][18]