Nickel, Gitta
Biography:
Gitta Nickel was born on May 28, 1936 in Briensdorf (now Borzynowo, Poland). After graduating from high school, she studied education and German at Humboldt University in Berlin.
She became an assistant director for popular science films at the DEFA studios. As of 1959, she worked as an assistant director for Joachim Kunert, Ralf Kirsten and Konrad Wolf at the DEFA Studio for Feature Films, before returning to the Studio for Documentary Films in 1963 to work as an assistant to Karl Gass.
Nickel’s directorial debut was Wir verstehen uns, a film about German and Russian children in an East Berlin preschool. Her following films, both for television and cinema, focused on reports about daily life in East Germany. During her career, she also directed many portraits of famous artists, including theater and opera director Walter Felsenstein, dancer Gret Palucca, composer Paul Dessau and directors Konrad Wolf and István Szabó.
In 1988, Nickel drew attention with her documentary Zwei Deutsche, which builds on the photographs of two young soldiers in the last days of WWII to follow their very different biographies. In 2011, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated film presented a homage to Nickel entitled Sometimes You Would Like to Fly. Gitta Nickel lives in Werder.
Festivals & Awards:
| 1973 | First Prize, Oberhausen Film Festival, for Heuwetter |
| 1973 | Golden Dove, Leipzig International Film Festival, for Tay Ho - Das Dorf in der 4. Zone |
| 1972 | Silver Dove, Leipzig International Film Festival, for Heuwetter |
| 1970 | Silver Dove, Leipzig International Film Festival, for Sie |
Filmography:
| 2003 | Ich habe alles außer Zirkus gemacht – Der Filmkomponist Karl Ernst Sasse (I Did Everything Except Circus: Film Composer Karl Ernst Sasse, TV) |
| 2001 | Zu Hause in Ostpreußen (At Home in East Prussia, TV) |
| 2000 | Bunte Ehen (Mixed Marriages, TV) |
| 1999 | Die da in der Platte – Geschichten aus Marzahn (Stories from Marzahn, TV) |
| 1996 | Zwischen den Fronten (Between the Fronts, TV) |
| 1996 | Schalom Genossen (Shalom Comrades, TV) |
| 1993 | Das war die DDR: In Fürsorge für das Volk (That Was the GDR: For the People's Welfare, TV) |
| 1993 | Das war die DDR: Ich war Bürger der DDR (That Was the GDR: I Was A Citizen of the GDR, TV) |
| 1993 | István Szabó (TV) |
| 1991 | Leb’ wohl Deutschland (Farewell Germany, TV) |
| 1990 | Eine deutsche Geschichte – wir haben die Mauer durchbrochen (A German Story: We Broke through the Wall, TV) |
| 1990 | China - mein Traum, mein Leben (China: My Dream, My Life, TV) |
| 1989 | Den Wind auf der Haut spüren (Feel the Wind on Your Skin) |
| 1988 | Zwei Deutsche (Two Germans) |
| 1987 | Wie ein Fisch im Wasser (Like A Fish in Water) |
| 1986 | Wenn man eine Liebe hat (When You Have Someone to Love) |
| 1982 | Gundula – Jahrgang 58 (Gundula: Born in '58) |
| 1981 | Manchmal möchte man fliegen (Sometimes You Want to Fly, TV) |
| 1980 | Verbrennt nicht unsere Erde (Do Not Scorch Our Earth) |
| 1977 | Konrad Wolf (TV) |
| 1975 | Morgen kommen die Polinnen (... the Polish Farmgirls Are Coming Tomorrow, TV) |
| 1974 | Paul Dessau (TV) |
| 1973 | Tay Ho – Das Dorf in der 4. Zone (Tay Ho: The Village in the 4th Zone) |
| 1972 | Heuwetter (Harvesting Weather) |
| 1971 | Gret Palucca (TV) |
| 1970 | Walter Felsenstein (TV) |
| 1970 | Sie (She) |
| 1965 | Wir verstehen uns (We Like Each Other) |