Seemann, Horst

Biography:

Horst Seemann was born on April 11, 1937 in Pyhanken, Czechoslovakia (now Běhánky, Czech Republic). His family was relocated after WWII and settled in Thuringia. Seemann studied directing at the Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg from 1958 to 1962. His thesis film was a short satirical piece for the Stacheltier film series, made at the East German DEFA Studio. After graduating, he continued directing films for this series.

 

Seemann’s first full-length feature film was the 1967 musical Hochzeitsnacht im Regen. His oeuvre—almost 20 films for cinema and television—includes historic films (Schüsse unterm Galgen), contemporary stories (Zeit zu leben, Reife Kirschen), and films based on literature (Levins Mühle). Beethoven – Tage aus einem Leben, the 1976 biographical film about the famous German composer, brought Seemann international recognition.

 

Seemann not only wrote most of his own scripts, he is also credited with the scores for some of his films, including Levins Mühle and the European co-production Ärztinnen, which was nominated for the 1984 Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. During his career, he also worked on scripts for films on Heinrich von Kleist, Albert Einstein and the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but these films were never produced. Horst Seemann died on January 6, 2000.

Festivals & Awards:

1985 Best DEFA Feature Film of the Year 1984, Critics' Prize of the Association of GDR Film and Television Professionals, for Ärztinnen
1982 Special Prize for Engagement aginst Intolerance and Chauvinism, National Feature Film Festival, Karl-Marx-Stadt, for Levins Mühle

Filmography:

1990 Zwischen Pankow und Zehlendorf (Between Pankow and Zehlendorf)
1989 Vera – Der schwere Weg der Erkenntnis (Vera – The Hard Way to Enlightenment, TV)
1985 Besuch bei van Gogh (Visiting van Gogh)
1982 Hotel Polan und seine Gäste (Hotel Polan and its Guests)
1983 Ärztinnen (Women Doctors)
1980 Levins Mühle (Levin’s Mill)
1978 Fleur Lafontaine (TV)
1976 Beethoven – Tage aus einem Leben (Beethoven – Days in a Life)
1972 Reife Kirschen (Ripe Cherries)
1971 Liebeserklärung an G.T. (Declaration of Love to G.T.)
1969 Zeit zu leben (Time to Live)
1968 Schüsse unterm Galgen (Shots Under the Gallows)
1967 Hochzeitsnacht im Regen (Wedding Night in the Rain
1964 Peterle und die Weihnachtsgans Auguste (Peterle and the Christmas Goose Auguste)

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