Stefan Ruzowitzky
Encyclopedia
Stefan Ruzowitzky is an Academy Award-winning Austria
n film director
and screenwriter
.
. He studied drama and history at the University of Vienna
and started directing music video
s, for example for 'N Sync
, and commercial
s.
in Upper Austria
, came out in 1998, and was awarded Best Picture at the Rotterdam
film festival
as well as at the Flanders
Film Festival. It also got a prize at the International Film Festival
in Valladolid
.
In 2000 he directed the successful German
horror film
Anatomy
, starring Franka Potente
, and in 2003 the equally well received sequel Anatomy 2
. Between those two Ruzowitzky's first international co-production All the Queen's Men
from 2001, starring Matt LeBlanc
and Eddie Izzard
, was received poorly by both critics and viewers.
In 2007 Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters
premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival
and was nominated for a Golden Bear award. The film is based on the memoirs of Adolf Burger
, a Jewish
Slovak
typographer and Holocaust
survivor involved in Operation Bernhard
. The Counterfeiters, nominated on behalf of Austrian cinema
, won the Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards
on 24 Feb. 2008.
He is currently working on the vampire
horror film
The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which is based on Bram Stoker
's Dracula
tale, and the psychological thriller
Braincopy.
, for Vienna's Theater an der Wien
. The cast included his Counterfeiters-star Karl Markovics
in the non-singing role of Samiel, the production was conducted by Bertrand de Billy
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n film director
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:...
.
Early life
Ruzowitzky was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He studied drama and history at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and started directing music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, for example for 'N Sync
'N Sync
N Sync was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick...
, and commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
s.
Movie career
In 1996, Ruzowitzky presented his first feature film, Tempo, about a group of youths living in Vienna. He was subsequently awarded with the Max Ophüls Preis. His next feature film, Die Siebtelbauern, set in the rural MühlviertelMühlviertel
The Mühlviertel is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria, the others being Hausruckviertel, Traunviertel, and Innviertel. It is named for the two rivers and .-Region:...
in Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
, came out in 1998, and was awarded Best Picture at the Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
film festival
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The International Film Festival Rotterdam is an annual film festival held in various cinemas in Rotterdam, Netherlands held at the end of January. It is approximately comparable in size to other major European festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno...
as well as at the Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
Film Festival. It also got a prize at the International Film Festival
Seminci
Valladolid International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain since 1956....
in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
.
In 2000 he directed the successful German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
Anatomy
Anatomy (film)
Anatomy is a 2000 German horror film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky that stars Franka Potente. A sequel, Anatomy 2 was released in 2003...
, starring Franka Potente
Franka Potente
Franka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
, and in 2003 the equally well received sequel Anatomy 2
Anatomy 2
Anatomy 2 is a 2003 German thriller film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky that stars Franka Potente. It's the sequel to the 2000 film Anatomy...
. Between those two Ruzowitzky's first international co-production All the Queen's Men
All the Queen's Men
All the Queen's Men is a 2001 action comedy war film. It was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and stars Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard. The budget was $15,000,000, but the film only earned $22,723 worldwide, yielding an approximate -99.92% return.-Cast:...
from 2001, starring Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcoms Friends and its spin-off Joey....
and Eddie Izzard
Eddie Izzard
Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
, was received poorly by both critics and viewers.
In 2007 Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters
The Counterfeiters (film)
The Counterfeiters is a 2007 Austrian-German film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. It fictionalizes Operation Bernhard, a secret plan by the Nazis during the Second World War to destabilize Great Britain by flooding its economy with forged Bank of England bank notes.The film centres on a...
premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival
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...
and was nominated for a Golden Bear award. The film is based on the memoirs of Adolf Burger
Adolf Burger
Adolf Burger Adolf Burger Adolf Burger (born August 12, 1917, Kakaslomnic (aka Nagy-Lomnicz, , , Comitate of Szepes, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire) is a Jewish Slovak typographer, memoir writer, and Holocaust survivor involved in Operation Bernhard...
, a Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
Slovak
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
typographer and Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor involved in Operation Bernhard
Operation Bernhard
Operation Bernhard was the codename of a secret Nazi plan devised during the Second World War by the RSHA and the SS to destabilise the British economy by flooding the country with forged Bank of England £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes...
. The Counterfeiters, nominated on behalf of Austrian cinema
Cinema of Austria
Austria has had an active cinema industry since the early 20th century. Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky was among the Austrian pioneers of this art. Several Austrians pursued a career in pre-Nazi Germany and later in the United States, among them Fritz Lang, Josef von Sternberg, Billy Wilder, Fred...
, won the Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
on 24 Feb. 2008.
He is currently working on the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
The Last Voyage of the Demeter, which is based on Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
tale, and the psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
Braincopy.
Filmography
- 1996 – Tempo – writer/director
- 1998 – Die Siebtelbauern – writer/director
- 2000 – AnatomyAnatomy (film)Anatomy is a 2000 German horror film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky that stars Franka Potente. A sequel, Anatomy 2 was released in 2003...
– writer/director - 2001 – All the Queen's MenAll the Queen's MenAll the Queen's Men is a 2001 action comedy war film. It was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and stars Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Izzard. The budget was $15,000,000, but the film only earned $22,723 worldwide, yielding an approximate -99.92% return.-Cast:...
– director - 2003 – Anatomy 2Anatomy 2Anatomy 2 is a 2003 German thriller film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky that stars Franka Potente. It's the sequel to the 2000 film Anatomy...
– writer/director - 2007 – The CounterfeitersThe Counterfeiters (film)The Counterfeiters is a 2007 Austrian-German film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. It fictionalizes Operation Bernhard, a secret plan by the Nazis during the Second World War to destabilize Great Britain by flooding its economy with forged Bank of England bank notes.The film centres on a...
– writer/director - 2012 – BlackbirdBlackbird (2012 film)Blackbird, previously titled Kin, is an upcoming crime drama film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, from a screenplay by Zach Dean. It stars Olivia Wilde, Kate Mara, Charlie Hunnam and Eric Bana....
– director
Oscar
- 2008 – The CounterfeitersThe Counterfeiters (film)The Counterfeiters is a 2007 Austrian-German film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. It fictionalizes Operation Bernhard, a secret plan by the Nazis during the Second World War to destabilize Great Britain by flooding its economy with forged Bank of England bank notes.The film centres on a...
for Best Foreign Language Film
Opera
In 2010, Ruzowitzky directed his first opera production, Der FreischützDer Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
, for Vienna's Theater an der Wien
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
. The cast included his Counterfeiters-star Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director.He starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in Stefan Ruzowitzky's 2007 film The Counterfeiters, which was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year...
in the non-singing role of Samiel, the production was conducted by Bertrand de Billy
Bertrand de Billy
Bertrand de Billy is a French conductor.He was born in Paris.After his career as an instrumental musician, de Billy began his conducting career in Paris. He later moved to Germany and built up his career as an opera conductor. He was the general music director at the Anhaltisches Theater in...
.