Biography:

Lutz Stützner was born in Königsbrück on April 14, 1957. He studied graphic design in Berlin from 1979 to 1982, when he joined the DEFA Studio for Animation Film in Dresden as an assistant animator. In 1984, he was hired there as an animator and cartoonist, and stayed until 1992. His debut as a director, animator, and cartoonist was with the cartoon Herzdame in 1985. From 1986 to 1988, he worked as a co-writer, director, and cartoonist on the animated film series Mausi und Kilo. His DEFA short films Konsequenz and Monument were selected to be part of the Rebels with a Cause retrospective, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005.

After the DEFA Studios closed, Stützner worked at ILFO-Film-Music in Bad Homburg (1992-1993), for Studio 88 cartoon company (1994-2010) and, as of spring 2011, at Motion Works in Halle. Stütznerʼs films received recognition at many international festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival, the International Festival for Documentary and Animation Film in Leipzig and the International Festival of Youth Cinema in Rimouski, Canada. Stützner was also the co-director of the children’s television series (1999-2002) and movie version of Der kleine König Macius, based on the 1923 children’s book Król Macius Pierwszy by Janusz Korczak.

From 1990 to 2003, the Sächsische Zeitung published Stützner’s weekly political cartoons featuring his character Oswin; In 1998, a collection of these cartoons was published under the title Das Wort zum Samstag (transl. Thoughts for Today). Stützer taught animation, for example at the 2011 International ANIMA workshop, and worked on the post-production of animation projects such as Rabe Socke, Bummi und Kommissar Morris. 

Lutz Stützner, who was a founding member of DIAF (German Institute for Animation Films), died on September 6, 2021.