Miriam Dehne
Encyclopedia
Miriam Dehne is a German film director
and screenwriter
.
The storylines of the Berlin
-based director and screenwriter deal with dreams, the self-discovery process and the attempt to master as best as possible the balancing act between ideal and reality without selling oneself out. Miriam Dehne is also her own screenwriter.
Her strong-willed characters sporting high heels, angel wings and sprinkles of glitter in their hair embark on a tragicomic search for themselves in storylines that are both poetic
and surreal
. Not much separates the Angle’s flight from its crash. Such a perspective on the world arises neither from the director’s sheer powers of observation nor a capacity for self-reflection, but rather from a life of experiences that catapult the viewer into a world where both are combined and to which the viewer invariably becomes a witness.
Father, Dr. Achim Dehne (died 1988) was a psychiatrist
, author and member of the Wiener Gruppe.
Mother, Sabine Dehne, teaches
art
, English
and German
.
Sister, Pia Dehne, is a successful painter
and lives with her husband, the musician Marko Pezzati, in New York
.
After graduating
from the Rückertgymnasium in Düsseldorf, Miriam Dehne studied textile design in Mönchengladbach
. She then moved to Berlin where she studied design at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK, today UDK
) under Professor Wolfgang Joop
. She holds a degree in design
. Following her studies she worked as a costume designer and assistant director for various theater
and film
productions
.
Her first Super 8 films
were created during her time at the UDK.
Jobs: cocktail waitress at the “Potsdamer Abkommen”, a Berlin scenester hangout until 1989; and phone receptionist in a high-end bordello
.
Based on her experiences in the bordello: the film “Babsi“, a surrogate for many women’s fates. Theme: the smallest factory in the world, body = capital
. ZDF
– Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Also created for the same format: “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful“, a film about the lives of young models
.
Following an internship at Burda Verlag, Offenburg, Miriam Dehne worked as an independent reporter covering arts and culture in Berlin and attended screenwriting and directorial seminars by Judith Weston, Mark W. Travis, Keith Cunningham and Tom Schlesinger.
Since 1994 various TV features, documentaries, and short films (for Arte
, ZDF, Pro7, RTL).
In 2001 Miriam Dehne presented Detlef Bothe’s theatrical play “Pornostars mit Liebeskummer”, which premiere
d at the Staatstheater in Hannover
and starred Michaela Schaffrath
(ex-pornostar Gina Wild) and Niels Bruno Schmidt.
She authored a number of screenplays including “Angel of Germany” (with co-author David Tattu), “Venus in Vegas”, “Little Paris”, and a handful of short stories and plays including “Ticket nach Vegas”.
The short story “Lady Luck” received an award from the Berlin-Rheinsberg
Author’s Forum (AF).
Berlinale
2005: Premier of “Stadt als Beute”, episode film (directed by Miriam Dehne, Irene von Alberti, Esther Gronenborn). Episode “Lizzy” (starring Inga Busch, supporting roles: Julia Hummer, Stipe Erceg), screenplay and direction by Miriam Dehne.
Produced for/with: ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Volksbühne Berlin and Filmgalerie 451.
Based on the play of the same name by playwright and Prater artistic director René Pollesch.
2008 wrote and directed the first German fiction series for the web “They Call Us Candygirls”.
2008 feature film “Little Paris”. The story about dreaming about a career in dancing and the search for oneself, set in the small town of Crailsheim
in Baden-Württemberg. The screenplay was inspired by a TV-documentary about the daily lives of gogo-girls living there.
Storyline: Luna (Sylta Fee Wegmann) breaks out of a dismal small-town existence in order to become a professional dance
r. In contrast: the friends that stay behind, Eve (Jasmin Schwiers) and Barbie (Nina-Friederike Gnädig).
Additional roles played by Inga Busch, Julia Dietze, Stipe Erceg, Volker Bruch, Ralph Kretschmar.
“Weltschmerz in Pink: emancipation is depicted in a new, wild, and naïve way. Miriam Dehne outdoes many young German filmmakers—because she searches for magical moments against conventions and good taste. In the end she manages to come up with truly great cinema.”
“Just what have the three directors and former school mates come up with? They’ve taken Pollesch lines and merely developed them further—into three very different film episodes. Lines like “Whores tell about a life they don’t have.” Miriam Dehne savors tales from the porn-millieu, and has put the line to good use. Julia Hummer, sporting a blond wig, is the table dancer: an unusual role for the dreamer of German actors, but she sought it out for herself. And Inga Busch, the huge, passionate Pollesch-protagonist who yells “sheisse” in such a wonderful way, and who finds herself in the bar by chance, finds herself dependent on it, and experiences a life “she doesn’t have.” The body as a shit-hotel, also a quintessential Pollesch line, takes on a totally different meaning in this context.”
“If the Candy Girls were art and not just an internet soap one might compare its visual language to works by kitsch art icon Jeff Koons or with works by video artist Francesco Vezzoli. Dehne reflects on this and replies: ‘In their own divergent ways Koons and Vezzoli have dealt with pornchic. Both use its beauty and absurdity in order to actually talk about something more than just sex. It has to pounce on you and be so obvious that it tips over and affords the viewer a glimpse of what’s behind.’”
They call us Candy Girls
Stadt als Beute
A Dress from L.A.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
The storylines of the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-based director and screenwriter deal with dreams, the self-discovery process and the attempt to master as best as possible the balancing act between ideal and reality without selling oneself out. Miriam Dehne is also her own screenwriter.
Her strong-willed characters sporting high heels, angel wings and sprinkles of glitter in their hair embark on a tragicomic search for themselves in storylines that are both poetic
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. Not much separates the Angle’s flight from its crash. Such a perspective on the world arises neither from the director’s sheer powers of observation nor a capacity for self-reflection, but rather from a life of experiences that catapult the viewer into a world where both are combined and to which the viewer invariably becomes a witness.
Biography and Artistic Development
Miriam Dehne grew up in Düsseldorf.Father, Dr. Achim Dehne (died 1988) was a psychiatrist
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, author and member of the Wiener Gruppe.
Mother, Sabine Dehne, teaches
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Sister, Pia Dehne, is a successful painter
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and lives with her husband, the musician Marko Pezzati, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
After graduating
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
from the Rückertgymnasium in Düsseldorf, Miriam Dehne studied textile design in Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....
. She then moved to Berlin where she studied design at the Hochschule der Künste (HdK, today UDK
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
) under Professor Wolfgang Joop
Wolfgang Joop
Wolfgang Joop is a German fashion designer. He is the founder of the fashion and cosmetics company JOOP!, and father of fashion designer Jette Joop.-Early life:...
. She holds a degree in design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
. Following her studies she worked as a costume designer and assistant director for various theater
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
productions
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
.
Her first Super 8 films
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
were created during her time at the UDK.
Jobs: cocktail waitress at the “Potsdamer Abkommen”, a Berlin scenester hangout until 1989; and phone receptionist in a high-end bordello
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
.
Based on her experiences in the bordello: the film “Babsi“, a surrogate for many women’s fates. Theme: the smallest factory in the world, body = capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
. ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
– Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Also created for the same format: “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful“, a film about the lives of young models
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
.
Following an internship at Burda Verlag, Offenburg, Miriam Dehne worked as an independent reporter covering arts and culture in Berlin and attended screenwriting and directorial seminars by Judith Weston, Mark W. Travis, Keith Cunningham and Tom Schlesinger.
Since 1994 various TV features, documentaries, and short films (for Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
, ZDF, Pro7, RTL).
In 2001 Miriam Dehne presented Detlef Bothe’s theatrical play “Pornostars mit Liebeskummer”, which premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
d at the Staatstheater in Hannover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
and starred Michaela Schaffrath
Michaela Schaffrath
Michaela Schaffrath is a German television actress. A former nurse, she got started in the adult film industry after she posed nude for Coupé, a German adult magazine...
(ex-pornostar Gina Wild) and Niels Bruno Schmidt.
She authored a number of screenplays including “Angel of Germany” (with co-author David Tattu), “Venus in Vegas”, “Little Paris”, and a handful of short stories and plays including “Ticket nach Vegas”.
The short story “Lady Luck” received an award from the Berlin-Rheinsberg
Rheinsberg
Rheinsberg is a town and a municipality in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Rhin, approx. 20 km north-east of Neuruppin and 75 km north-west of Berlin.-History:...
Author’s Forum (AF).
Berlinale
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
2005: Premier of “Stadt als Beute”, episode film (directed by Miriam Dehne, Irene von Alberti, Esther Gronenborn). Episode “Lizzy” (starring Inga Busch, supporting roles: Julia Hummer, Stipe Erceg), screenplay and direction by Miriam Dehne.
Produced for/with: ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Volksbühne Berlin and Filmgalerie 451.
Based on the play of the same name by playwright and Prater artistic director René Pollesch.
2008 wrote and directed the first German fiction series for the web “They Call Us Candygirls”.
2008 feature film “Little Paris”. The story about dreaming about a career in dancing and the search for oneself, set in the small town of Crailsheim
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, 32 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, 40 km southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district, incorporated in 1338....
in Baden-Württemberg. The screenplay was inspired by a TV-documentary about the daily lives of gogo-girls living there.
Storyline: Luna (Sylta Fee Wegmann) breaks out of a dismal small-town existence in order to become a professional dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
r. In contrast: the friends that stay behind, Eve (Jasmin Schwiers) and Barbie (Nina-Friederike Gnädig).
Additional roles played by Inga Busch, Julia Dietze, Stipe Erceg, Volker Bruch, Ralph Kretschmar.
Press Reviews
“The exquisite visuals may play with the kind of small-town despair associated with the sparse aesthetic of the Berlin-school, yet, alongside this, approaches are found that recall more of Sofia Coppola’s tartlet-laden filmic operetta „Maria Antoinette”. Such shifts in style between disco-glitz and melancholy are ventured all too rarely in German film.”“Weltschmerz in Pink: emancipation is depicted in a new, wild, and naïve way. Miriam Dehne outdoes many young German filmmakers—because she searches for magical moments against conventions and good taste. In the end she manages to come up with truly great cinema.”
“Just what have the three directors and former school mates come up with? They’ve taken Pollesch lines and merely developed them further—into three very different film episodes. Lines like “Whores tell about a life they don’t have.” Miriam Dehne savors tales from the porn-millieu, and has put the line to good use. Julia Hummer, sporting a blond wig, is the table dancer: an unusual role for the dreamer of German actors, but she sought it out for herself. And Inga Busch, the huge, passionate Pollesch-protagonist who yells “sheisse” in such a wonderful way, and who finds herself in the bar by chance, finds herself dependent on it, and experiences a life “she doesn’t have.” The body as a shit-hotel, also a quintessential Pollesch line, takes on a totally different meaning in this context.”
“If the Candy Girls were art and not just an internet soap one might compare its visual language to works by kitsch art icon Jeff Koons or with works by video artist Francesco Vezzoli. Dehne reflects on this and replies: ‘In their own divergent ways Koons and Vezzoli have dealt with pornchic. Both use its beauty and absurdity in order to actually talk about something more than just sex. It has to pounce on you and be so obvious that it tips over and affords the viewer a glimpse of what’s behind.’”
Filmography – Selection
As director and screenwriter- 2009, 2008: They Call Us Candy Girls, webisode, MySpace, 30 episodes
- 2008: Little Paris, feature film, SWR
- 2005: Stadt als Beute, feature film, ZDF, episode: Lizzy, episode film
- 2002: 99 Euro films, feature film, episode: Loreley S., short film
- 1993-2001: The Bull Never Wins, shortfilm; Vivi Kiss, shortfilm; I Love My Pony, ARTE, documentary film; Urban Style Mutation, documentary film; Cinderella’s Kleid, ARTE, shortfilm; Die Hochzeitsmacher, ARTE, documentary film, Surabaya Johnny, ARTE, staging of Brecht & documentary film; Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful, ZDF-Kleines Fernsehspiel, documentary film; Barbie lebt, ARTE, documentary film; Babsi, a Name with Many Faces, ZDF-Das kleines Fernsehspiel, poetic documentary
Music Video – Selection
Direction and Screenplay- 2009: Glaub Ihnen kein Wort - Cassandra SteenCassandra SteenCassandra Steen is a German singer, songwriter and voice actress, who rose to fame as the lead singer of the trio Glashaus....
- 2009: Wishing you Well - StanfourStanfourStanfour are a German rock band who formed in 2004. The band was founded on the German island of Föhr where the four core members live. Already prior to the band's formation, brothers Alexander and Konstantin Rethwisch spent years in Los Angeles working closely together with a producer of film music...
- 2002: Ich und Elaine - 2Raumwohnung2raumwohnung2raumwohnung is a German pop duo founded in 2000 in Berlin.Its two members – Inga Humpe and Tommi Eckart – are the former singers of the group Neonbabies.-Band history:...
Theater – Selection
Direction- 2001: Pornostars mit Liebeskummer, Staatstheater Hannover
Publications – Selection
- Angel Of Germany. Lyrics, mit Inga Humpe. 2Raumwohnung, 2009.
- Du Bewegst Dich Richtig, 2Raumwohnung, 2007.
- A Dress from L.A, one of many stories about the designers Stefan Loy and Frank Ford / HEKMAG magazine, Berlin.
- Der Kaiser ist in der Gardrobe, fictional interview on the fashion industry and ecology, HEKMAG magazine, Berlin.
- Naomis Dress, diary of a German actress in Hollywood, theme: fashion and glamour, HEKMAG magazine, Berlin.
- Mom’s Room, English language play inspired by images of Marylin Minter, sleek magazine, Berlin.
- Diamond Daliah, short story about love and the decline of the art market, HEKMAG magazine, Berlin.
- Lady Luck, short story from the series ”Trip to Vegas”, Author’s Forum Rheinsberg, Rheinsberg.
Little Paris
- 2008: Nomination, 22nd Braunschweig International Film Festival:
- KINEMA German-French Youth Award
- 2008: Nomination, 19th FilmArtFestival Mecklenburg-Pomerania:
- Feature Film Competition/Top Prize – State of Mecklenburg-Pomerania
- Best Emerging Actor Award: Sylta Fee Wegmann
- 2009: Longlist, German Film Award:
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Nina-Friederike Gnädig
- Best Original Music Score: Marco Meister, Kriton Klingler-Ioannides
They call us Candy Girls
- 2008: Recipient, 2nd IPTV AWARD at Munich Media Days:
- Most Innovative Project
Stadt als Beute
- 2005: Nomination, femme totale – 10th International Women's Film Festival Dortmund:
- International Feature Film Award for Women Directors
- 2005: Honorable Mention, International Confederation of Art Cinemas/Confédération International des Cinémas DÀrt et Essai in the scope of the Berlinale
- 2006: Longlist, German Film Award:
- Best Supporting Actress: Julia Hummer
- Best Supporting Actress: Inga Busch
A Dress from L.A.
- 2007: ADC (Art Directors Club) – Award:
- Best Editorial: Magazine Article, for the article A Dress from L.A. , one of the many stories about designers Stefan Loy and Frank Ford.