| Andreas Dresen is one of Germany's most accomplished contemporary directors of films that both challenge and entertain the viewer. Born in 1963 to renowned theater director Adolf Dresen and actress Barbara Bachmann, Dresen grew up surrounded by theater in East Germany and began making short films at the age of fifteen. After graduating from upper school, Dresen completed the required time in the army and then worked from 1984 to 1985 as a sound technician at the Schwerin Theater. In 1985 and 1986 he interned at the DEFA Feature Film Studio and ultimately attended the Konrad Wolf Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg from 1986 to 1991. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, momentous political changes, took place during Dresen's studies at the academy, and images of these events reappear in his films, as he portrays a world of continued political and social uncertainty after reunification. Although he is often considered an East German director, not least because of his focus on the political and social consequences of reunification and its ramifications for the common people of Germany, Dresen prefers to be known simply as a director who has experienced a life-altering event.
The end of the GDR stands in the center of the first full-length film he made during film school, Stilles Land (Silent Country, 1992), a film that portrays the struggles of a provincial theater group attempting to put on Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in the weeks directly preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall. The theatre group, led by an overly idealistic director, reflects the political and social turmoil of that time through the emotions and struggles of small-town actors. After his first feature film, Dresen spent a few years making movies for television. His greatest commercial success, Mein unbekannter Ehemann (My Unknown Husband, 1995), a made-for-TV movie, is a film that follows the story of an African man who marries a woman in order to stay in Germany . In the mid-1990's Dresen began directing theater, starting with Goethe's Faust at the Staatstheater Cottbus. He has since directed such plays as Kasimir und Karoline at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin in 2006. That same year, Dresen also made his debut as an opera director with Mozart's Don Giovanni in Basel, Switzerland. Nachtgestalten (Night Shapes, 1998), Dresen's next feature film, won critical acclaim and solidified Dresen's reputation as a gifted director. Halbe Treppe (Grill Point, 2001) garnered attention in 2001 because of its dark outlook on the banality of life and the indiscretions of married people. Somewhat unexpectedly, the director won the Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlinale and went on to win many other awards. Critics were particularly impressed with his use of cast improvisation and continual shots which were done without extra light or rollers, in order to give a grittier and more realistic view.
His latest film, Sommer vorm Balkon (Summer in Berlin, 2005), excellently depicts the struggles many people still face after reunification. It portrays two average women in Berlin striving to make sense of life and love during one summer, and its political undertones suggest that many people are still adjusting to life in unified Germany. Summer in Berlin is the first of Dresen's films which has been shown in the United States. It has won many awards, including the Silver Hugo Award in 2005 for the leading actresses Nadja Uhl and Inka Friedrich at the 41st Chicago International Film Festival, a Best Script in 2005 at the 53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, and an Ernst Lubitsch Award for Dresen's directing in 2006. Dresen's unique and multi-layered directing style has made him one of the most interesting and successful directors in contemporary Germany.
- Laura Wynn |
