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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Svenja Jung was born in Weroth, Germany on May 28th, 1993. She is an actor well known for her roles in Zeit der Geheimnisse (2019), Fucking Berlin (2016), Die Mitte der Welt (2016), and Deutschland89 (2020). She also acted in the Netflix miniseries Holiday Secrets (2019), alongside Corinna Harfouch. She was nominated for the New Faces Award in 2017.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
LeVar Burton was born on 16 February 1957 in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). He has been married to Stephanie Cozart Burton since 3 October 1992. They have one child.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Paula Beer was born on 23 February 1995 in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for Undine (2020), Frantz (2016) and The Dark Valley (2014).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jean-Marc Barr was born on 27 September 1960 in Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for The Big Blue (1988), Lovers (1999) and Big Sur (2013).- Actor
- Writer
- Stunts
Thorsten moved to the US in 1985 on a track (decathlon) scholarship to the United States International University in San Diego. Although Thorsten majored in physical education (and minored in drama), a serious motorcycle accident forced him to choose a different direction. He played soccer for a while, but ultimately changed his major to drama and received his Bachelor's Degree in fine arts. After a rugby tour through Europe, Kaye enrolled in graduate school at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he earned his master's degree in theater and theater history.
Although he fondly remembers his first professional role as that of the "Wicked Witch of the West" when he was 17 years old in England, Thorsten portrayed some of the most memorable characters in classical theater, from Macbeth to Mark Antony, while a member of the Hilberry Repertory Theatre Company in Detroit. Thorsten then moved to Los Angeles, where he garnered roles in various television projects, including the CBS mini-series: Sidney Sheldon's "Nothing Lasts Forever", before moving to New York to accept the role of Professer Patrick Thornhart on the ABC-TV daytime drama "One Life to Live."
After leaving "One life to Live," Thorsten starred in the 2000 film "Shark Attack 2." Later in 2000, Thorsten returned to daytime television as Dr. Ian Thornhart (Patrick's older brother) on the ABC-TV drama "Port Charles." In 2004, he accepted the role of the mysterious Zach Slater on ABC-TV's "All My Children."
Thorsten is the author of two books: "From Timber Ridge to Daymer Gardens: A Journey in Words," co-written with the late Dorothy Bridges, and "A Solid Wheel of Colored Ribbons," a book of children's poems with illustrations by Tami Evans Foster (to be published in the spring of 2009).
When not working, Thorsten enjoys music, literature, riding American motorcycles, hockey (following the Detroit Red Wings), and football (he is a Miami Dolphins fan).- Friederike Becht was born on 14 October 1986 in Bad Bergzabern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for The Reader (2008), Hannah Arendt (2012) and Schneller als die Angst (2022).
- Kathryn Givney was born on 27 October 1896 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Daddy Long Legs (1955), My Friend Irma (1949) and A Place in the Sun (1951). She was married to J. George Stutzman and Francis Alton Connolly. She died on 16 March 1978 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Caroline Peters was born on 7 September 1971 in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress and writer, known for Mord mit Aussicht (2008), Mute (2018) and Arnie's World (2005).- After four years of studying acting, Werner Daehn started his career with roles at various theatre plays throughout Germany. His international breakthrough on the big screen was in 2002 with his role as chain-smoking antagonist of Vin Diesel in the blockbuster movie Triple X, directed by Rob Cohen. His profile rose quickly with further international productions such as THE Lives of Others (2006) which was celebrated worldwide and won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and THE Counterfeiters (2007) which was awarded with an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Top Five Foreign Film Award of the National Board of Review, and was nominated at the Online Film Critics Society Awards.
In the TV series Fleming about James Bond for BBC America, Werner took on the role of Hugo Berger. In Field of lost Shoes(2014, directed by Sean McNamara) he played the historic character of General Franz Sigel. Werner Daehn played alongside Tom Cruise as Major Ernst John von Freyend in Valkyrie (2008), directed by Bryan Singer. In 2012, he collaborated again with Rob Cohen for Alex Cross , for which he starred in yet another US Blockbuster. In the summer of 2016, he stood in front of the camera for the international co-production Tom Of Finland directed by Finnish director Dome Karukoski
Among his works for TV are a lead role in the NBC series Constantine, the BBC series UNited and 39 Steps as well as Colditz for ITV. In Germany he is well known for his roles in Germany's most important crime series Tatort and other highly popular crime shows.
Dec 2018 Werner Daehn wrapped on Medieval, a drama centered in the 14th century about Czech icon and warlord Jan Zizka who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire. He stars alongside Michael Caine, Ben Foster and Matthew Goode.The picture will be at the theaters end of 2019. In 2019 the polish-german film Werewolf which was already awarded at festivals and THE Operative will have their release at the theaters too. - Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
In 1979 Thomas Anders won a music competition of the radio station "Radio Luxembourg", (a highly noted and respected competition in those days) and was offered a recording contract with CBS. In 1980, at the age of 17, he released his first single "Judy". Several singles followed which were produced by Daniel David. In 1981 Thomas had his debut on TV in the Michael Schanze Show "Hätten sie heut' Zeit für uns", where he performed the song "Du weinst um ihn". In 1983 producer Dieter Bohlen recorded a German cover version of the song "Pick up phone" (F.R. David). At that time Thomas was an artist at HANSA, (today BMG Berlin), Dieter asked him to come to the recording studio in Hamburg to record the song together. Dieter Bohlen was enthusiastic about his voice. As a result he produced several German songs with Thomas, for example "Wovon träumst Du denn?", which peaked at 16 on the German Pop-Charts, "Endstation Sehnsucht" and "Heißkalter Engel" (German version of "Send Me An Angel" by Real Life).
In autumn 1984, Dieter Bohlen wrote the song "You're my heart, you're my soul", which was the debut song for Dieter and Thomas. Modern Talking was born. "You're my heart, you're my soul" went to the top of the charts and remained there for 6 weeks. The songs of the Pop-Duo were a huge success worldwide, nearly every song became a hit and things happened really fast. Soon, Modern Talking was the most successful German Pop-Duo and they got several gold and platinum records.
In autumn 1987 they broke up. Anders recorded six albums when he first pursued a solo career. Highly successful abroad between 1989 and 1995, he worked with well-known producers like Gus Dudgeon, Peter Wolf, Paul Muggleton & Mike Paxman and along with famous artists like Glen Meiderios, Judie Tzuke, Marta Sanchez, the Pointer Sisters and Three Degrees (with whom he sang a duet). Also he wrote the title song for an Argentinean series. These days he regularly thrills up to 85,000 fans per concert internationally in places like Cape Town, Hong Kong, Singapore, Santiago de Chile, Moscow etc.
In 1993 Thomas experienced something new, when he got a part in the Swedish Movie "Stockholm Marathon". He also wrote the title song for that movie. Lately he has been working on his new solo album for some time and plans to release it in the spring of 2004.- Actress
- Location Management
- Soundtrack
Born 1958 in Wehbach an Der Sieg and raised in Kassel, Germany. After finishing Realschule (high school) she worked as book club agent. Her job led her to Munich, where she was discovered as an actress by students of the academy for film and theater. In 1978 she started her education in the Zinner film studio, her first part was the leading role in Kopfschuß (1981), which was presented 1982 in Cannes. Since then she appeared in various other well known German productions. Some of her fame may be due to the fact that she isn't shy to reveal much in erotic scenes in her films.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Yve Burbach first came into contact with the acting world at the age of 12 when she appeared in several school plays. She was originally trained to become a management assistant in advertising before she decided to go to college to study communication studies. After this she went on to take acting lessons with Marietta Bürger in Cologne. During this time she also took singing and dance classes. In 1999 she garnered increasing attention when she appeared in several episodes of the TV series Mallorca - Suche nach dem Paradies. Her most well-known and most popular role with the audience was the french Cécile de Maron. In the famous TV series Verbotene Liebe from 2001 until 2006 Along with the rest of the cast she received a Golden Rose award in Luzern.
Yve Burbach has accepted roles in nearly all genres for feature films, TV movies and TV series. She has worked with directors Jörg Grünler, Josh Broecker, Marcus Ulbricht, and Bijan Benjamin. In the TV movie Tod in Istanbul, which was directed by Matti Geschonneck Yve Burbach was cast opposite Jürgen Vogel and Heino Ferch.
For the play Die Wahrheit, Yve Burbach appeared on the stage of Cologne's Theater Am Dom in May 2013. Under the direction of René Heinersdorff she also made a highly acclaimed appearance in the play called Sei lieb zu meiner Frau at the Contra Kreis Theater in Bonn in the season 2013 / 2013.- Director
- Actress
- Writer
Diem Brown was a hostess, actress and producer, known for The Challenge (1998), Hollywood Hangover (2008) and E! True Hollywood Story (1996).
Best-known for battling ovarian cancer twice on national television, Diem has become a correspondent for patients on The Doctors (2008), Dr. Drew on Call (2011), Makers, Oprah's Real Beauty. Her avocation for patients lead her to create an online support system, a "patient gift registry" called MedGift.com.
Diem's People Magazine weekly blog gained national attention, when she documented her hair loss due to chemotherapy, as well as her out-spoken struggle with fertility desires.
She died on Friday, 14 November 2014 in a hospital in New York City, New York, USA.- Sabine Schmitz was born on 14 May 1969 in Adenau, Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany [now Germany]. She was married to Reck and Klaus Abbelen. She died on 16 March 2021 in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- Composer
- Actor
- Director
Safy is an Algerian musician, arranger, composer, and record producer who graduated from Berklee College of Music. He is the father of dancer and actress Sofia Boutella. He is best known for creating with Khaled the album Kutché, his album Mejnoun, arranging Nass el Ghiwane, and many young artists since the nineties. He also composed for Djamel Allam Djawhara (kind of Algerian anthem), more than seventy movies soundtracks, and five musical frescoes.- Judith Armbrüster was born on 19 November 1950 in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She was an actress, known for Alpenglühn im Dirndlrock (1974), Bohr weiter, Kumpel (1974) and Teenage Intimacies (1973). She died on 22 June 2013 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Christian Ulmen was born on 22 September 1975 in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Berlin Blues (2003), Dr. Psycho - Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich (2007) and Die Discounter (2021). He has been married to Collien Ulmen-Fernandes since 22 June 2011. He was previously married to Huberta.- Actress
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Lois Kibbee was born on 13 July 1922 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Caddyshack (1980), The Edge of Night (1956) and Search for Tomorrow (1951). She died on 18 October 1993 in New York City, New York, USA.- Udo Samel was born on 25 June 1953 in Eitelsbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor, known for Mit meinen heißen Tränen (1986), Killer Condom (1996) and The Piano Teacher (2001).
- Brittney Level was born in Kaiserslautern,(K-Town) Germany February 6th, to Douglas and Linda Level. Her love for acting started at a very early age. She starred in her elementary school plays as "Emily Elizabeth" in a series of Clifford the Big Red Dog stories, as well as performing puppetry shows in the 5th grade for the schools 1st-3rd graders. As she got older Brittney took an interest in the music industry, becoming an artist and writer working with more than a few heavy hitting producers and artist. After performing all over the U.S. she returned to her passion for acting , when she started taking classes and beginning work in the Film and Television industries. Holding her own next to some of the industries more seasoned actors when she co-starred as Annabel in the Indie Film "Holding Patterns" directed by Jake Goldberger, starring Freddie Highmore and Odeya Rush, as well as 2017's "Unbridled", as Alison Sangrin, Brittney has also acted in commercials ,as well as popular television shows, including BET's "Being Mary Jane" and the season finale of "Justice by any means" Her talent does not end with singing, acting, and writing, Brittney has also sufficiently projected her creativity and talents into Voice over's. Voicing the Character "Fiona Falcon" in the "Eddie Eagle animation and a nationwide UPS commercial she continues to hone her skills, working with the amazing V.O. Talent and Coach Deborah Richards, as well as acting coach Gregory Alan Williams. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg for this wonderfully talented and attractive actress. While she continues to prevail as a more than a triple threat in this ever growing industry, and master her skills, we look forward to all her future endeavors.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Salma Khan was born in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is known for Hidden Springs, The Outcazds Present #HashtagEverything (2017) and Sugar (2024).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
If Curtis Bernhardt is a relative unknown, it's because he didn't direct his first Hollywood feature until 1940 at the age of 41. Bernhardt worked for years in Germany until his Jewish heritage made living there impossible by 1933-- he was arrested by the Gestapo and made a harrowing underground escape to France. With Europe plunging into war, he left for America in 1939. Despite his limited grasp of the English language, he was offered seven-year contracts at both Warner Bros. and MGM, largely on the strength of Carrefour (1938)-- which proved so enduring that it was remade as Dead Man's Shoes (1940) in the UK and as Crossroads (1942) by MGM. Most émigrés would have jumped an offer to work at MGM-- considered the "Tiffany" of film studios-- but Berhardt went with Warners, favoring that studio's reputation for hard-boiled realism. His career in Hollywood began with a false start; after working on his first assignment he fell ill and was reassigned an Olivia de Havilland vehicle, My Love Came Back (1940), that gained him good notices. Bernhardt rapidly achieved a reputation as a woman's director with occasional forays into suspense with varied results. He directed one of Humphrey Bogart's least popular films, Conflict (1945), which was burdened by ludicrous plot contrivances, but he snapped back the next year with a winner: My Reputation (1946), a melodrama starring Barbara Stanwyck. He had another misfire, however, with the critically panned Devotion (1946) and would end his contract with the studio after three more films in 1947, after which he moved briefly to MGM. Ironically, he would later look back fondly upon Warners' assembly-line production methods compared to his days at MGM, where he felt compelled to bend to the whims of its stars and serve at the behest of studio chief Louis B. Mayer. Berhardt managed to make two above-average films during his short stay at Metro, however--the suspenseful High Wall (1947) starring 'Robert Taylor (I)_ in one of his best mid-career roles, and The Doctor and the Girl (1949), starring the likable Glenn Ford.
Bernhard soon moved to RKO, which was entering its final chaotic decade, directing The Blue Veil (1951), a remake of a French film. He did a one-shot gig at Columbia, directing Bogie once again in the hopelessly set-bound Sirocco (1951), and rounded out the remainder of the 1950s back at MGM, ending his Hollywood career with the middling comedy Kisses for My President (1964) at Warners.
He retired from directing due to illness in the mid-'60s and died in 1981, age 81, at his home in Pacific Palisades, California.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Mark Forster was born on 11 January 1984 in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is a music artist and actor, known for Welcome to Germany (2016), The Voice of Germany (2011) and Catweazle (2021). He has been married to Lena Meyer-Landrut since 2020. They have one child.- Ernst Ziegler was born on 16 April 1894 in Weilerbach, Palatinate, Bavaria [now Rhineland-Palatinate], Germany. He was an actor, known for Something for Everyone (1970), The Naked Countess (1971) and Josefine M. (1970). He died on 11 April 1974 in Berlin, Germany.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Matthias Koeberlin was born on 28 March 1974 in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor, known for Tornado (2006), Fugitives (2011) and Lutter (2007). He is married to Diana Koeberlin. They have one child.- Actor
- Producer
- Talent Agent
Vjekoslav Katusin, born October 28th, 1983 in Mainz, Germany, is a Croatian independent film producer, director, writer, and actor. He wrote and produced the feature-length thrillers: "Live Fast and Die Young" and "Der Letzte Coup (The Last Coup)" the following year. He showed his acting chops in the English motion pictures " Bloodrayne: The Third Reich" and "Max Schmeling". In 2015, he formed the production company Dream Team Pictures to fund new projects and start a new wave of Croatian genre cinema aimed to appeal to a worldwide audience.
Also, in 2015, he wrote and produced the pilot episode for a new international crime series "Dead End: At The End We Die" which had its premiere at Harmony Gold Theater in 2016 and received brilliant reviews.
The production of his supernatural thriller C.L.E.A.N. released in October 2020, received numerous awards at international film festivals, amongst them the "Dreamachine International Filmfestival" and the "New York Movie Awards". The movie also received two Oskull awards at the "Festival of Serbian Fantastic Film" in Belgrade.
In 2021 he produced the found-footage movie "Unbound Evil" which had its worldwide premiere in Munich in February 2022. The film received the Vegas Movie Award in the category BEST HORROR FILM and BEST DIRECTOR and more than twenty other wins all over the world. In April 2022, the film was released in theaters worldwide.
The award-winning producer is currently in pre-production of "Wrongful Death" (that stands for an actual prequel to "C.L.E.A.N. ) that will be shoot in January 2023 in Croatia and in pre-production of the upcoming movies "Save the Last Bullet" (war drama), "Devil's Work" (mystery horror), and C.L.E.A.N. 2.
His most significant media success will be the production of his "passion project" feature-length mafia thriller "Someone Dies Tonight" with Eric Roberts, Costas Mandylor, Tom Sizemore, Christopher Lambert, Michael Pare, Robert Miano, Mike Dopud, and Jenny Paris.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Erik Schmitt was born in 1980 in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is a director and writer, known for Cleo (2019), Nashorn im Galopp (2013) and Now Follows (2011).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Alex was born as a son of Afghan and Czech parents. Being inspired by gangster movies as a child, Alex decided to become a filmmaker and started working at film productions in Munich and L.A. Subsequently he enrolled at the Filmacademy Baden-Württemberg/Germany to study directing. In 2009, Alex studied at the renowned Central Saint Martin's College in London to get deeper into directing. After winning various awards for his works, he made his feature film debut with the thriller "Vicious Dogs". "Souls", a mystery drama series, which Alex created and directed, premiered in Cannes at the Canneseries and won best screenplay and best music.- Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, then Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation. His father, Hershel Mordechai, was the son of a rabbi. Karl converted to Lutheran Christianity because Jews were not allowed to practice law. He graduated from the Trier Gymnasium, then studied law at the University of Bonn, where he was briefly a president of the Trier Tavern Club. He transfered to the Fridrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Berlin, from which he graduated in 1841 with a doctorate in philosophy. He abandoned a university career and became an editor of a liberal newspaper, "Rheinische Zeitung", in Cologne. A year later the paper was shut down by the Prussian government. Marx moved to France, where he wrote "Zur Judenfrage" ("On the Jewish Question", 1843), a critique of civil rights in his time.
In Paris Marx met Friedrich Engels. Engels was the son of a wealthy capitalist and supported Marx throughout his life. Together they developed the communist ideology. Police forced him to leave Paris and he moved with Engels to Brussels. There he developed the materialist conception of history and wrote "The German Ideology" and "The Poverty of Philosophy", which was a critique of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's socialist thought. On February 21, 1848, Marx and Engels published "The Communist Manifesto", which called for revolution instead of reforms. It described all human history as a class struggle. It was commissioned by the Communist League of German emigrants in London. Marx himself was active in London.
Police arrested Marx and expelled him from Belgium. He returned to Paris. There he managed to get the French government money to subsidize four hundred German immigrants' return tickets. In 1849 the French government collapsed and Marx returned to Cologne. There he was on two trials for his calls for armed rebellion of the poor. He was acquitted twice, but his newspaper was closed. He returned to Paris again, but was forced out. With the money from Engels he moved to London. There Marx lived for the rest of his life on financial contributions from Engels.
In London he became the central figure in a new organization called "The International Working Men's Association", which surfaced in 1864. Marx authored its first public statement in 1864, and many declarations and manifestos that followed. "Das Kapital"--his main work on economics--was drafted in three volumes. Only the first volume was completed and published in 1867. The second and third volumes remained unfinished and were published posthumously.
Marx and his wife Jenny von Westphalen had six children, three of whom died at young age. His daughter Eleanor was a socialist and assisted Marx in editing his works. She committed suicide in 1898. His other daughter, Laura, committed suicide in 1911. Karl Marx died on March 14, 1883, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London. - Producer
- Executive
Natascha Dea Burdeinei (she/her and pronounced NUH-TAH-shuh DAY Burr-DEE-knee) was born at Landstuhl Army Medical Center in West Germany and spent a large part of her childhood on military bases. Natascha is a writer, artist, producer, and historian specializing in legacy and the privileges and responsibilities that arise from it, and ancestral understanding as a tool in healing trauma and advancing racial equity.
A film and theatrical producer, Natascha is actively developing television and film projects that explore identity and legacy through elevated and transformative storytelling representative of this diverse world. She is an executive producer of "After the Deluge," an evocative pandemic tale written by Pulitzer, Oscar, and Tony Award-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley, directed by Tara Young, produced by Ashley George, shot and produced by Charlotte Hornsby, starring Trae Harris and Grace Rex. She is also an executive producer of "GLO," a Black Queer first-love story set in the BIPOC rollerskating scene of Chicago written and co-directed by Adhana Reid; an associate producer of Lea Pascal's short comedic take on miscarriage, "The Greatest Joy;" and co-produced the Off-Off-Broadway production of the comedic western musical, "The Dastardly Thornes v. The Town of Goldhaven," in its world premiere at The Brick Theater, Brooklyn, NY, July-August 2023.
In 2023, Natascha began creating her forthcoming podcast, "The Threads That Connect Us," to be produced and distributed by Radio Free Rhinecliff in Rhinecliff, New York and Natascha's production company, FortyTwo Women. "The Threads That Connect Us" explores the connection between understanding inherited legacy, finding purpose, and making change in the world and is releasing on podcast platforms in 2024.
An accomplished photographer, Natascha's photographic work has been exhibited alongside work by Helena Christensen, Mick Rock, Mark Seliger, Pamela Hanson, Gary Palmer, Eric Schwabel, Anne Menke, Robert Lucy, Francisco Letelier, and Roldán West.
Her book, "Conversations To Have With Your Loved Ones" (Dea Matrona Books, 2024) is available in bookstores everywhere. She is writing a book about Prince.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Steven Ray Byrd was born on April 12, 1979 in Germany. He was adopted at 3 months old by Donald and Mildred Byrd. Steven graduated from Central Hardin High School in 1997. He has lived all over the United States including Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Steven made his first major debut on TruTv's "All Worked Up".- Actor
- Music Artist
Hans-Martin Stier was born on 29 September 1950 in Bad Ems, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and music artist, known for Babylon Berlin (2017), Enemy at the Gates (2001) and Tristan + Isolde (2006). He is married to Christine. They have two children.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Rob Nilsson is an independent director, based in San Francisco. Nilsson and co-director John Hanson won the Camera d'Or at Cannes for Northern Lights (1978) and Nilsson won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for Heat and Sunlight (1987). He is the first American film director to have won both awards. In 2010, The Anthology Film Archive featured a retrospective of Nilsson's work with Cine Manifest, a film collective he co-founded in San Francisco during the 1970's. Works screened included Northern Lights (1978) and Signal 7 (1986).
He is the creator of the Direct Action style of digital filmmaking taught in the Tenderloin yGroup Actor's Ensemble, San Francisco and featured in workshops conducted around the world. Nilsson is a pioneer in the techniques of video to film transfer which led to today's digital revolution. In 1985, Signal 7 (1986) was the first small-format video feature to be blown up to film and distributed around the world. Chalk (1996), his first feature with the Tenderloin Action Group (later the Tenderloin yGroup), a San Francisco inner city acting workshop, was featured in the Locarno and Toronto film festivals. It was voted one of the top films of the year by the Village Voice.
The 9 @ Night film series, nine feature films sharing characters and circumstance with dialogue improvised by the Players, received the San Francisco Film Critic's Circle Marlon Riggs Award for courage and innovation in cinema in 2008. Seven of Nilsson's 9 @ Night film series, nine Direct Action digital features cast from the yGroup, Stroke (2000), Singing (2000), Scheme C6 (2001) and Need (2005), Pan (2006), Used (2007) and Go Together (2007) had their World Premieres at the Mill Valley International Film Festival. Attitude (2003) had its World Premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2003 and Noise (2002) at the Virginia FF, also in 2003. The World Premiere marathon screening of all 9 feature films took place at the Harvard Film Archive in 2007.
In collaboration with studio Malaparte in Japan, Nilsson completed a Direct Action digital feature film shot on Sagi Island off the coast of Hiroshima. Winter Oranges had its world premiere in 2000 at the Fukuoka Film Archives in Fukuoka and its US Premiere at the Mill Valley International Film Festival in 2000. In 2000, Nilsson shot another Direct Action digital feature (Samt) in Jordan, working with a cast of young Jordanians assembled by Zenid, a Jordanian institute for social development. Samt had its world premiere at the Mill Valley International Film Festival in 2004.
In 2003 Nilsson, in conjunction with Resfest South Africa, shot Frank Dead Souls, a Direct Action digital feature shot in Cape Town locations with a cast selected from town and township. In 2005 the Pacific Film Archive hosted the World Premiere of Security, a Direct Action feature film produced during a Nilsson residency at the University of California, Berkeley. Security won the Audience Award at the Green Cine Internet Film Festival. In 2006 the Kansas City Filmmaker's Jubilee presented Opening, a Direct Action feature sponsored and produced in Kansas City by the festival, as its Opening Night film.
Nilsson has directed A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998), a feature film for the USA Channel, from a script by Rod Serling. Presque Isle (2008), a narrative feature shot on locations in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Northern Wisconsin premiered at the Mill Valley FF in 2007. Nilsson directed screen legend Stacy Keach in Imbued (2009) in 2009, which premiered at the Mill Valley International Film Festival. With Citizen Cinema, he continues to create and direct films in the Direct Action improvisational style he pioneered. Nilsson completed Sand (2010), The Steppes (2011), Maelstrom (2012), Collapse, (2013), A Leap to Take, (2013) and A Bridge to a Border (2014). He also created a feature documentary, What Happened here (2013) a road movie, personal essay on the life of Leon Trotsky.
Nilsson's film criticism has been featured on Ifilm and the Adobe Motion Channel and in a regular editorial column in RES, once the world's leading magazine on digital filmmaking. Nilsson received a Rockefeller Artist's Grant in 2002. Retrospectives of Nilsson's work have taken place at the Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, Chicago Institute of Art, Resfest, Seoul, Korea, Digital Talkies Festival, New Dehli, India, MOV Festival and Cinemanila, Manila, Philippines, Hong Kong IFF, and the Kansas City Filmmaker's Jubilee. He had recent retrospectives at the Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia, the Moscow International Film Festival, and the Love is Folly Film Festival, Varna, Bulgaria.
Recent awards include the Ted M. Larson Award for "outstanding contributions to the film industry" from the Fargo International Film Festival, the Indie Pioneer Award from the Kansas City Filmmaker's Jubilee, a Filmmaker of the Year award from the Silver Lake Film Festival, Los Angeles, the Milley Award from the city of Mill Valley for achievement in the Arts, the Filmmaker's Award from the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Master's Award from the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Armenia, the Golden Aphrodite from the Love is Folly Film Festival, Bulgaria and the Sophia Lifetime Achievement Award from the Syracuse International Film Festival. His book of poetry, From a Refugee of Tristan Da Cunha was released in 2007 and is available at Authorhouse.com and Wild Surmise, A Dissident View, his book about the cinema was released in 2013 and is available on Amazon and Authorhouse.com. Nilsson is also an artist with an extensive body of work.- Margarita Broich was born on 3 May 1960 in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for Sources of Life (2013), The Reader (2008) and Tatort (1970). She has been married to Dirk Schmalenbach since 2019.
- Actress
- Production Manager
Isolde Barth was born on 24 August 1948 in Maxdorf, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress and production manager, known for The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Es wäre gut, daß ein Mensch würde umbracht für das Volk (1991) and Group Portrait with a Lady (1977).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Rufus Beck was born on 23 July 1957 in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Jimmy the Kid (1998), Maybe... Maybe Not (1994) and Tatort (1970). He is married to Yvonne Beck. They have two children.- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Martina Plura was born on 12 December 1985 in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is a director and editor, known for Chains of Love (2013), Unsichtbarer Angreifer (2023) and Das Büdchen (2010).- Claudia Hess was born on 29 April 1972 in Bendorf, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She has been married to Thomas Anders since 15 July 2000. They have one child.
- Anna König was born on 25 January 1980 in Kandel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for The Hannas (2016), 5 Women (2016) and Dark (2017).
- David Carey Foster is a stage and screen based in Los Angeles, California. He was born in 1960 on an American army base in Landstuhl, Germany, and spent his childhood moving around the United States with his family of five, driven in part by his parents' life-long passion for travel and geographic diversity. After living in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, the family eventually settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It was there that he attended Eldorado High School and was bitten by the acting bug in his junior year. After reading a John Masefield poem in an Introduction to Theatre class, the drama instructor, George Nason, asked him to audition for a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He did and was cast in nearly every show for the next two years. The fire was ignited.
David was also busy off-stage, earning a little pocket money in a series of wide-ranging, and often unusual after-school jobs. He had a landscaping business with three friends, retrieved mis-hit balls at a local golf-course pond, cut railroad ties at the end of a two-man saw, unloaded nitroglycerin for a demolition company, and washed dishes at a dinner theatre.
After graduating high school in 1978, he won theatre scholarships from the three major universities in New Mexico, ultimately deciding to accept at the smallest of them - Eastern New Mexico University - in order to get the most stage time.
ENMU was located in the southern part of the state, in the middle of a large peanut and dairy-farming community. White at "Eastern" his stage roles were as varied as they were plentiful. But after two years of study and his first professional gig - a summer show on Galveston Island - he started to feel the allure of more practical, real-world experience.
When a director he had worked with at ENMU suggested David for a contract at the Great American Melodrama on the central coast of California, he jumped at the opportunity. After breaking the difficult news to his parents, he struck out for California with a one-year contract, 500 dollars and the 30-show resume that he had gained in the four years since he read John Masefield's poem in high school.
At "The Melodrama," as locals call it, David cut his eyeteeth as a professional actor: working six days a week in wide-ranging productions; greeting, seating and serving patrons; and eventually became the on-stage emcee. It was a foundational year-long crash-course in sustained, interactive live-performance.
From there, it seemed he inherited his parents' wanderlust. David left the central coast, and spent a good number of years working in regional theatre, traveling the country before finally finishing the degree he started in New Mexico with two years of study at the University of Arizona, as well as securing a handful of television roles that included his first network appearance on "The Young Riders" as Doc.
After a couple more years working regionally, David finally settled in Los Angeles, and began adding to his TV and film credits. He also started to diversify more earnestly into music and writing; two sub-headings to his talents that had been serving him along the way, forming a writing partnership with friend Todd Schroeder, a well-known local music director, performer and musician. They eventually partnered with another friend, Thomas Lauifi, and began a singing trio called Pepper Street, after the street they lived on.
Along the way, David also aligned with actor/musician, Larry Poindexter, to create a new rhythm and blues musical called "The Devil You Know;" thanks in part to actor Stephen Root, who took the reins as a producer and was instrumental in the formal workshop that would forge the ultimate form of the show.
David has since continued developing other works for the stage including a completed stage adaptation of Judith Guest's seminal work, "Ordinary People."
As a producer, David has worked for the Central Coast Repertory Theatre on productions of "My Children - My Africa," "Stieglitz Loves O'Keefe," "Voices of America" and "A Night at the Tony's." At the Colony Theatre in Los Angeles, he also sat on the other side of the table to produce "Einstein & the Polar Bear" and "The Cocktail Hour." - André Eisermann was born on 28 October 1967 in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor, known for Kaspar Hauser (1993), Brother of Sleep (1995) and The Castle (1997).
- Ute Kittelberger was born on 7 October 1958 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She was an actress, known for Zwei im 7. Himmel (1974), Ludwig Ganghofer: Der Edelweißkönig (1975) and Schloß Hubertus (1973). She was married to Thomas Hensel and Bernd Clüver. She died on 4 September 2021 in Wachenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Michael Foerster was born in Mainz near Frankfurt in Germany. He is the second child of Wolfgang Foerster, a lawyer and Sylvia Foerster, a saleswoman. At the age of 22 he went to the acting school Athanor Academy of Performing Arts, Film and Television in Passau, Bavaria, for four years. After getting his diploma he made his first career step at the State Theater in Salzburg as Count Paris in Romeo and Juliet. With about 700 people in the audience every night for a whole season, the show was very successful. After that Michael moved to Munich and got a contract with the acting agency Mattes, one of the most prestigious agencies in Germany. In the following years, Michael worked as an actor on stage and for film and television. He got discovered on stage by director Astrid Jacob, who saw the versatility and the strong stage presence and hired him for many stage plays until today. He played many roles throughout the years, such as the Duke Orsino in "Twelfth Night, or What You Will" and Cléante in "The Miser". He worked mostly for theaters in Stuttgart and Munich. He also took part in several theater festivals like the Castle Festival Neersen, which is with 500 seats one of the biggest theater festivals within its region. Next to theater, Michael developed a TV career. He repeatedly appeared in many TV shows, like "The Rosenheim-Cops", "Tatort", "SOKO 5113" and "Hubert und Staller". These shows are running for over twenty years and have between 2,5 and 8 Mio viewers per week. He also took part in several movies for the TV stations "Das Erste" and the "ZDF", which are the two biggest publicly owned television channels in Germany. Besides that, Michael always produced and worked on short movies and therefore studied Film production at the Bavarian Academy for Film and Television. One of the short movies, "Das Beste draus machen" became the successful feature film "Bocksprünge" which starred some of Germanys best actors. In 2016, he got the leading role in the feature film "Holy Spirit-Der Film" directed by Michael Baran, which will come to German theaters in fall 2017. Michael is always improving his skills and regularly takes part in acting workshops. In 2016, he got invited to attend the International Acting Masterclasses of Bernard Hiller in Hamburg, Ischia, Rome, London and Los Angeles where he met casting directors like April Webster, Jason Stamey and the agent Harry Gold. He also worked with Nancy Bishop and took part in the Audition Class of Annie Grindlay. He also works with the voice coach Bob Corff.- Daniel Rodic was born on 17 January 1991 in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor, known for MEK 8 (2011), Der Lehrer (2009) and Bad Cop: Kriminell gut (2017).
- Actress
- Writer
Barbara Philipp was born on 19 October 1965 in Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress and writer, known for The Reader (2008), The Physician (2013) and Tatort (1970).- Cathy Lugner was born on 6 December 1989 in Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for Lugner am Opernball (2015), Frühstücksfernsehen (1987) and Naked Attraction - Dating Hautnah (2017).
- Stunts
- Actor
- Producer
Rick was born in Landstuhl, Germany in the Rhineland-Pfalz to United States Army parents. He spent the majority of his childhood growing up on military bases across 8 states and 3 countries. Rick gained interest in the arts after accepting small independent roles in his friends' college films. He moved to New York in 2008 and became a certified EMT, answering emergency calls in NYC. Determined to pursue a career in film, he started working as a background actor and production assistant to gain experience. Through hard work, dedication, and a bit of luck; he became eligible to join SAG-AFTRA and began being cast for stunt roles.
Rick currently lives on Long Island and maintains his EMT certification while working for a Healthcare system.- Mark Bellinghaus was born on 20 July 1963 in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor, known for The Name of the Rose (1986), Forsthaus Falkenau (1989) and A Case for Two (1981).
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Jan Henrik Stahlberg was born on 30 December 1970 in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Muxmäuschenstill (2004), Bedbugs (2017) and Short Cut to Hollywood (2009).- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Writer
Sebastian Hilger was born in 1984 in Adenau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Sebastian is a director and writer, known for Wir sind die Flut (2016), The Signal (2024) and Ayuda (2011).