Arne Birkenstock

Arne Birkenstock (born 1967) is a German film director and screenwriter.

Birkenstock in 2011

Biography

Birkenstock was born in Huettental and was raised in Cologne. He studied economy, political science, history of Latin America and romance languages in Cologne, Buenos Aires and Córdoba, and received a master's degree in Latin American Studies.^{[citation needed]}

Birkenstock published several studies and non-fiction books on Latin American music and on arts and media policy for German publishing houses and governmental institutions. He has written, directed and produced several feature-length documentary films.^[1] In 2011 und 2014, he was awarded with the German Film Academy Award LOLA. His documentary feature "Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery" had its US theatrical release in August 2015 at Film Forum in New York City and Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles, distributed by Kimstim. As a producer, Birkenstock works with directors like David Bernet (Democracy), Viviane Blumenschein (Midsummer Nights Tango), Uli Gaulke (Comrades in Dream), Florian Opitz (The Big Sellout) Enrique Sánchez Lansch (Rhythm Is It!), Tonje Hessen Schei (Drone), Milo Rau (The Congo Tribunal), Yasemin and Nesrin Samdereli (Almanya: Welcome to Germany).

Birkenstock is a board member in the Deutsche Filmakademie. He is also a member of the European Film Academy,^[2] and the German Documentary Association (AG DOK).^[3] Birkenstock serves as a jury member for film funds in Germany and Switzerland.

Filmography

• 12 Tangos – Adios Buenos Aires – Cinema documentary on several dancers who emigrate from Buenos Aires.^[4] The film features an All Star Tango Orchestra with some of the most famous Argentinian musicians such as Juan José "Pepe" Libertella, Lidia Borda and others. 86 min, 2005.^[5] It was shown in German theatres and broadcast in ARTE^[6] and other TV channels worldwide.
• Chandani: The Daughter of the Elephant Whisperer – Cinema documentary about a young girl who wants to become a Mahout in Sri Lanka 90 min, 2010^[7]
• Sound of Heimat – Cinema documentary about Folk music from Germany. 90 min, had its theatrical release in September 2012^[8][9]
• The Art of Forgery is a documentary film about Wolfgang Beltracchi and the biggest Art Forgery scandal in post war Germany, 90 min., started in German theaters in March 2014 and had its world premier at the Montreal World Film Festival.^[10][11] The film will be distributed worldwide by Global Screen.^[12]
• The Moscow Trials. Cinema documentary and theatre event by Milo Rau, who assembled the protagonists of the trials about Pussy Riot and two art exhibits in a staged court house in Moscow in March 2013.^[13]
• "The Night of the Nights" – Cinema documentary of Yasemin Şamdereli and Nesrin Şamdereli about four couples in Germany, Turkey, Argentina and the US who have been married for 60 and more years and had a "real" wedding night.^[14]
• 7000 KM from Home – TV documentary series about German foreign exchange students in China, 4 x 30 min., 2008^[15]

Awards

The theatrical documentary Chandani – The daughter of the elephant whisperer was awarded with the German Film Award as best Children's Feature^[16] and as Best Documentary at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.^[17]

The documentary "Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery" was awarded 2014 with the German Film Award "Lola" as "best documentary".^[18]

The documentary "The Congo Tribunal" was awarded 2018 with the Zurich Film Award and nominated for the Swiss Film Award and for German Film Award "Lola" as "best documentary".

The documentary "The Night of All Nights" was awarded 2018 with the Bavarian Film Awards as "best Documentary".

References

1. Birkenstock's english profile at Crew United
2. "Birkenstock among the members". Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
3. Homepage of the German Documentary Association (AG DOK)
4. German Films on 12 Tangos
5. Review and Interview on Tangotales Archived 23 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
6. 12 Tangos at ARTE TV Archived 12 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
7. German Films on Chandani
8. Emma Hartley's Blog on Birkenstock's documentary Sound of Heimat
9. 45' TV-Interview with Hayden Chisholm at "Insight Germany" (DW TV) about Sound of Heimat Archived 22 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
10. Die Welt on Arne Birkenstock shooting a film with Beltracchi
11. Vanity Fair on the Beltracchi case
12. Hollywood Reporter on Global Screen distributing Arne Birkenstock's new Documentary
13. The New York Times on Milo Rau's documentary play and film The Moscow Trials
14. "Fruitmarket | Arne Birkenstock". Archived from the original on 2 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013. Fruitmarket produces new Şamdereli-Film
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 7000KM is a finalist at New York Festival
16. Die Welt on Arne Birkenstock winning the German Film Award Lola
17. Chandani at Chicago International Children's Film Festival Archived 4 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
18. Hollywood Reporter on German film award nominees

External links

• http://www.fruitmarket.de/
• http://www.chandani.realfictionfilme.de
• Arne Birkenstock at IMDb