Oliver Hirschbiegel
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1957. In his teens he left high school and
worked as a cooker in a boat.
Then he studied painting and graphism in the Academy of arts in Hamburg
where he also started experimenting with video and photography. Those
experimental movies attracted the attention of some producers of the
German TV.
Hirschbiegel became popular thanks to his tv movies (especially dramas
and thrillers). In 2001 he shot his first movie for cinema: "Das
Experiment" that won several awards in many festivals all around the
world. That movie is an intense investigation of the aggressive
behaviour in a simulated prison environment.
His second movie, "Mein letzter Film", released in 2002, is a 90
minutes' monologue about a woman in her fifties who wants to re-start
his life.
In 2004 "Downfall" was released, his third movie, and till now his
greatest success. "Downfall" is about the last 12 days of life of Adolf
Hitler narrated out of the sight of her young secretary, Traudl Junge.
That movie has stirred up much controversy because it portrays Hitler
and the Nazis as human beings and not just as evil.
Hirschbiegel has demonstrated in all his movies to be an specialist of
dramas set in claustrophobic environments.
worked as a cooker in a boat.
Then he studied painting and graphism in the Academy of arts in Hamburg
where he also started experimenting with video and photography. Those
experimental movies attracted the attention of some producers of the
German TV.
Hirschbiegel became popular thanks to his tv movies (especially dramas
and thrillers). In 2001 he shot his first movie for cinema: "Das
Experiment" that won several awards in many festivals all around the
world. That movie is an intense investigation of the aggressive
behaviour in a simulated prison environment.
His second movie, "Mein letzter Film", released in 2002, is a 90
minutes' monologue about a woman in her fifties who wants to re-start
his life.
In 2004 "Downfall" was released, his third movie, and till now his
greatest success. "Downfall" is about the last 12 days of life of Adolf
Hitler narrated out of the sight of her young secretary, Traudl Junge.
That movie has stirred up much controversy because it portrays Hitler
and the Nazis as human beings and not just as evil.
Hirschbiegel has demonstrated in all his movies to be an specialist of
dramas set in claustrophobic environments.