MICHAEL BALLHAUS

#1: From interview [2011]

MICHAEL BALLHAUS

Born: 5 August 1935, Eichelsdorf, Germany, as the son of actors [and founders, in 1946, of the Coburger Kulturkreis, which became the Fränkisches Theater in 1948] Oskar Ballhaus [-1972] & Lena Hutter [1911-2003].

Died: 12 April 2017, Berlin, Germany.

Career: Started as still ph at the Fränkisches Theater. Broke into films after dir Max Ophüls, a relative, allowed him to observe the filming of 'Lola Montès' [1955]. In 1958 he became electronic cameraman at the Südwestfunk [SWF] in Baden-Baden where he met dir Peter Lilienthal. The two decided to make a tvm: 'Das Martyrium des Peter O'Hey' [1964]. Lilienthal brought him to New York to shoot 'Dear Mr. Wonderful' in 1981. It was the cinematographer's first project in the USA with an American cast and crew. The prod designer was Jeffrey Townsend, who showed dir John Sayles the movie's dailies. That led to his 1982 collaboration with Sayles on 'Baby, It's You'.

Ph commercials dir by Martin Scorsese, a.o. Ph music videos with a: Prince, Bruce Springsteen [1985, 'I'm on Fire', d: John Sayles], Madonna [1986, 'Papa Don't Preach' & 'True Blue' (non-USA version) dir by James Foley], a.o.

Was scheduled to direct & ph the feature film 'Lotte Lenya' in 1993 and 1995 [with start of shooting in March 1996], but the project fell through. In 2000 he was mentioned as co-prod of a Lotte Lenya film to be directed by Rainer Kaufmann. Was co-exec prod on the feature 'The Thirteenth Floor/Abwärts in die Zukunft/The 13th Floor - Bist du was du denkst?' [1998, Josef Rusnak; ph: Wedigo von Schultzendorff].

Director Tom Tykwer interviewed him for the book 'Das fliegende Auge' [2003].

Was active as ph professor, e.g. Universität Hamburg, DFFB [1967-69, 1982, 2004, etc.] & HFFM.

Was a member of the ASC and the BVK.

Was married [1960-2006] to actress Helga Maria Betten [1935-2006]. Married dir Sherry Hormann in October 2011.

His sons Florian and Jan Sebastian were active as his camera assistants. Florian moved on to become doph; Jan became asst dir & 2u dir.

Appearances: Played a small part in the feature 'Spiel der Verlierer' [1977, Christian Hohoff; ph: Horst Knechtel] and, on archive footage, in the short 'Ausverkauft!' [1999, Wolfgang Dinslage & Hanno Hackfort]. Appeared in the doc's 'Private Conversations - On the Set of 'Death of a Salesman" [1985, Christian Blackwood], 'Robert Redford in Sundance' [1985, Ron & Dorothea Holloway], 'Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography' [1991], 'Ich will nicht nur, daß ihr mich liebt. Der Filmemacher Rainer Werner Fassbinder' [1992, Hans Günther Pflaum; ph: Manfred Burkle & Werner Kurz], 'Vom Tatort zur Traumfabrik. Deutsche Filmemacher zurück in Hollywood' [1994, Werner Sonne], 'Die Nacht der Regisseure' [1994, Edgar Reitz; ph: Peter Petridis, Christian Reitz & Stefan von Borbély], 'Michael Ballhaus - Begegnung mit dem Auge Hollywoods' [2000, Chris Schwotzer; ph: Gerardo Milsztein], 'Für mich gab's nur noch Fassbinder/Fassbinder's Women' [2000, Rosa von Praunheim; ph: Elfi Mikesch], 'Fassbinder in Hollywood' [2002, Robert Fischer; ph: Thomas Repp & Bruce Schermer], 'Starbuck Holger Meins' [2002, Gerd Conradt; ph: Armin Fausten, a.o.], 'Wer ist Helene Schwarz?' [2004, Rosa von Praunheim; ph: Lorenz Haarmann], 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan], 'Auge in Auge - Eine deutsche Filmgeschichte' [2007, Michael Althen & Hans Helmut Prinzler; ph: Matthias Benzing; 99m] & 'Michael Ballhaus - Eine Reise durch mein Leben' [2008, Vera Tschechowa; ph: Rainer Bauer & Jan Kerhart; 60m].

Awards: Deutscher Filmpreis in Gold [1973] for 'Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant'; Deutscher Filmpreis in Gold [1978] for 'Despair'; Independent Spirit Award nom [1986] for 'After Hours'; Video Music Award nom [1987] for 'Papa Don't Preach'; 'Oscar' AA nom [1988] for 'Broadcast News'; LAFCA Award [1989], 'Oscar' AA Award nom [1990] and NSFC Award [1990] for 'The Fabulous Baker Boys'; LAFCA Award [1990], BSC Award nom [1990] and BAFTA Film Award nom [1991] for 'Goodfellas'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1993] and BAFTA Film Award nom [1994] for 'The Age of Innocence'; DKP Ehrenkameramann [1996]; Golden Screen Special Achievement Award [2000]; Shanghai IFF 'Golden Goblet' [2001] for 'The Legend of Bagger Vance'; ASC Award nom [2002], 'Oscar' AA nom [2003] & BAFTA Film Award nom [2003] for 'Gangs of New York'; Berlin IFF 'Berlinale Kamera' [2006]; International Cinematographers FF 'Manaki Brothers' 'Life Achievement Award' [2006]; ASC International Achievement Award [2007]; European Film Award 'Prix Screen International' [2007] for European Achievement in World Cinema; Plus Camerimage 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2010].

Obituary: Michael Ballhaus, a cinematographer who brought lyricism and light to films by Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and a string of other eminent directors, died on Tuesday at his home in Berlin. He was 81.

His manager, Angela Carbonetti, confirmed the death, after a short illness.

Mr. Ballhaus became one of the most sought-after cinematographers in the world. He masterminded the look of pictures as visually diverse as latter-day noir, sanguinary gangster films and music videos.

He was most closely associated with R.W. Fassbinder, for whom he shot more than a dozen films in turbulent collaboration, and Martin Scorsese, for whom he shot seven in satisfying amity.

In a statement, Mr. Scorsese recalled: "We started working together in the '80s, during a low ebb in my career. And it was Michael who really gave me back my sense of excitement in making movies."

In the late 1950s, Mr. Ballhaus became a television camera operator in Baden-Baden, Germany. A decade later, he was summoned by Fassbinder to shoot 'Whity' [1970], a melodrama centering on the butler to a fractured American family in the Old West.

His first experience of Fassbinder, Mr. Ballhaus recalled, was a harbinger of their many later collaborations.

"He was very dictatorial," Mr. Ballhaus told The Times in 1986. "He wanted to own you. But he was also a tremendously exciting man and director. Toward the end, though, he was using more and more cocaine - he was up to as much as five grams on 'Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun', the last film I did with him, and it became impossible."

It is the task of a cinematographer to conjure a film's visual aesthetic, realizing the director's vision through meticulous choices concerning lighting, film stock, camera angles, the rhythm and flow of camera movements, and much else.

Hallmarks of Mr. Ballhaus's style include shots so fluid that the camera, a normally unwieldy creature, takes on the persona of a dancer. Over the years, critics concurred, he conceived some of the most emblematic camera movements in world cinema.

His signature shot, instantly recognizable as his work, was the 360-degree dolly, a tracking shot in which the moving camera describes a circle around its subject. He first used the shot in 1973 for Fassbinder ['Martha', tvm] and became so enamored of it that he reprised it in many subsequent films.

"A 360-degree is the only move that defines a person in the total way," Mr. Ballhaus told The New York Times in 1990. "It's the ultimate definition of a person in a room."

One of his most memorable deployments of the shot came in 'The Fabulous Baker Boys'. In an evocative scene, Michelle Pfeiffer, lounging atop a piano in a negligible red dress, croons 'Makin' Whoopee' as the camera gives her a slow, intimate, full-circle caress.

Another of Mr. Ballhaus's camera movements is so emblematic that it has its own name: the Copa shot.

That shot, widely considered the jewel in the visual crown of 'Goodfellas', follows the up-and-coming mobster Henry Hill [played by Ray Liotta] as he and his date [Lorraine Bracco] arrive for an evening at the Copacabana, the storied New York nightclub.

Like a third person, the camera follows just behind them as they enter the club through the rear door and pass down labyrinthine back halls through the kitchen and on into the dining room, where a table is swiftly laid for them.

The scene, shot with a Steadicam as a single, uninterrupted take, lasts some three minutes. There is almost no dialogue, and thanks in no small part to Mr. Ballhaus's choreography for the camera, there does not need to be: The sinuous shot, which shows people parting for Hill like the Red Sea, unequivocally evokes his passage into the dark, glittering world of organized crime.

Mr. Ballhaus, whose eyesight began to fail as a result of glaucoma, retired after shooting '3096 Tage/3096 Days'. Directed by his second wife, Sherry Hormann, it is based on the true story of Natascha Kampusch, an Austrian woman abducted and held prisoner for more than eight years.

Mr. Ballhaus's first wife, Helga Betten, whom he married in 1958, died in 2006; he married Ms. Hormann in 2011. Besides Ms. Hormann, his survivors include two sons from his first marriage, Florian, a cinematographer, and Jan-Sebastian, an assistant director; a sister, Nele Maar; and four grandchildren. [From obituary by Margalit Fox in 'The New York Times', April 14, 2017.]

FILMS
1958	Traumland der Sehnsucht/Dreamland Müller-Sehn] us/b&w-c; 1958-60
1968	Darf ich sie zur Mutter machen?/Mehrmals täglich [Ralf Gregan] b&w
1969	Deine Zärtlichkeiten [Peter Schamoni &
1969	Wir - zwei/We Two [Ulrich Schamoni] c
1970	Whity [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] cs/c
1970	Warnung vor einer heiligen [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1972	Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1972	Tschetan, der Indianerjunge/Chetan, Indian Boy [Hark Bohm] c
1973	Das sündige Bett [Ilja von Anutroff (=
1974	Made in Germany und USA [Rudolf Thome] 16mm/b&w;
1974	Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox [and His Friends] [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1974	Das Amulett des Todes/Cold Blood [Ralf Gregan &
1975	Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1975	1976	1976	Chinesisches Roulette/Chinese Roulette [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1976	Adolf und Marlene/Der Mann
1976	Also es war so…/Willy [Karin Thome] c; cph:
1976	Nur zum Spaß - nur zum
1977	Eine Reise ins Licht/Despair [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c
1977	Venedig - Die Insel der Glückseligen [Christian Rischert]
1977	Deutschland im Herbst/Germany in Autumn [seg #2 'Rainer b&w-c; doc + dram seq; 14 seg; Jürgen Jürges, Dietrich Günther Hörmann
1978	Die Ehe der Maria Braun [Rainer Werner Fassbinder]
1978	Die erste Polka [Klaus Emmerich] c
1978	Bourbon Street Blues [group prod HFFM,
1979	1980	1980	Malou [Jeanine Meerapfel] c
1980	Lili Marleen [Rainer Werner Fassbinder]
1980	Looping - Der lange Traum vom kurzen Glück [Walter Bockmayer
1981	1981	Heute spielen wir den Boss
1981	Dear Mr. Wonderful/Citydreams/Ruby's [Peter Lilienthal] c
1982	Baby, It's You [John Sayles] c
1982	1983	1983	Reckless [James Foley] c
1983	1983	Old Enough [Marisa Silver] c
1984	1985	After Hours [Martin Scorsese] c
1985	Under the Cherry Moon [Prince Rogers Nelson
1986	The Color of Money [Martin Scorsese] c
1986	The House on Carroll Street [Peter Yates] c
1987	The Glass Menagerie [Paul Newman] c
1987	Broadcast News [James L. Brooks]
1987	The Last Temptation of Christ [Martin Scorsese] c

of Desire/Greece - Land of Desire [Wolfgang doc/93m; cph: W. Müller-Sehn; filmed (started film) Herbert Vesely] c Nutte/Beware of a Holy Whore Ralf Gregan)] c; as Michael Alexander ph theatre seq; ph: Martin Schäfer Günter Vaessen] c 0">Sommergäste 0">Satansbraten/Satan's c; ph period January-February 1976; cph: Jürgen Jürges vom Obersalzberg [Ulli Lommel] c and the Chinese Cat Lothar Elias Stickelbrucks Spiel. Kaleidoskop Valeska Gert. [Volker Schlöndorff] 16mm/c; doc/58m am Rande des Untergangs 16mm/c; doc/101m Werner Fassbinder' dir by Rainer Werner Fassbinder] other ph: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein, Lohmann, Bodo Kessler, Werner Lüring, & Colin Mounier c; + small part superv by dir Douglas Sirk] c; short/24m; prod HFFM 0">Der Aufstand/La insurrección/The 0">Oye Raimundo, adónde Chavez, Luis Lupone 16mm/c; doc/60m; + co-prod c; cph: Xaver Schwarzenberger & Rolf Bührmann] c 0">Der Zauberberg/The Magic Mountain c; theatrical version tvm (312m); prod started with Robby Müller as was replaced by M. Ballhaus - Wo geht's denn hier zum Film? [Peer Raben] c Dream 0">Heller Wahn/Friends and Husbands/Sheer Madness/L'amie 0">Ediths Tagebuch/Edith's Diary 0">Das Autogramm/The Autograph 0">Heartbreakers (replaced Mary Lambert)] c; aph: Peter Allwork c; 2uc: Gregg Heschong

Mike Nichols - MB - Florian Ballhaus - "Working Girl"

Photo Andrew Schwartz - Thys Ockersen Archive

1988	Working Girl [Mike Nichols] c
1988	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [Frank Oz] c; remake of 'Bedtime Story' (1963, Ralph Levy; ph: Clifford Stine)
1988	The Fabulous Baker Boys [Steve Kloves] c; spph: Karen Miller
1989	Goodfellas [Martin Scorsese] c; film was finished by ph Barry Sonnenfeld because Ballhaus had to move on to his next assignment
1989	Postcards from the Edge [Mike Nichols] c
1990	Guilty by Suspicion [Irwin Winkler] c
1990	What About Bob? [Frank Oz] c; addph: David M. Walsh
1991	The Mambo Kings [Arne Glimcher] c; pick-up ph: Nestor Almendros; 2uc: Gábor Kövér
1991	[Bram Stoker's] Dracula [Francis Ford Coppola] c; 2uc: Steve Yaconelli; miniature ph: Bill Neil
1992	The Age of Innocence [Martin Scorsese] s35/c; optical ph: David S. Williams Jr.; matte ph: Mark Sawicki & John Sullivan
1992	I'll Do Anything [James L. Brooks] c
1993	Quiz Show [Robert Redford] c
1994	Outbreak [Wolfgang Petersen] c; 2uc: Mark Vargo & David M. Dunlap; aph: David B. Nowell
*1995*	Up Close & Personal [Jon Avnet] replaced by Karl Walter Lindenlaub after falling ill during pre-production
1995	Sleepers [Barry Levinson] s35/c
1996	Der Tote vom anderen Ufer [Lenard Fritz Krawinkel] c; short/8m; prod HFFM
1996	Der Sonnenkuss [Husam Chadat] c; short/7m; prod HFFM
1996	Kreuz & quer [ep 'Blitz' (5m) dir by Anteij Farak, ep 'Das Bildnis' (6m) dir by Ariane Homayounfar, ep 'Amazing Grace' (8m) dir by Lenard F. Krawinkel & ep 'Lieber Gott' (9m) dir by Yasemin Samdereli] ?; comp of short films; prod HFFM
1996	Air Force One [Wolfgang Petersen] s35/c; 2uc: David M. Dunlap; vfx ph: Garry D. Waller & David K. Stewart
*1997*	The Horse Whisperer [Robert Redford] scheduled as ph, but he dropped out after a prod delay caused a scheduling conflict; film was ph by Robert Richardson
1997	Primary Colors [Mike Nichols] s35/c
*1998*	Dino [Martin Scorsese] a Dean Martin biography; canceled
1998	Wild Wild West [Barry Sonnenfeld] c; cph: Stefan Czapsky; 2uc: David M. Dunlap, Bill Pope, Chuck Shuman & Raymond Stella; aph: David B. Nowell
1999	What Planet Are You From? [Mike Nichols] c; 2uc: Florian Ballhaus
2000	Gone Underground [Su Turhan] HD (Sony F900)-to-35mm/c; short/9m
2000	Gangs of New York [Martin Scorsese] s35/c; 2uc (+ action unit ph): Florian Ballhaus & Marco Pontecorvo; optical ph: Mark Sawicki; insert ph: Phil Marco
2000	The Legend of Bagger Vance [Robert Redford] c; 2uc: Florian Ballhaus
2001	Mutti/Mummy [Su Turhan] vv/c; comm short/?m; for Volkswagen's Film Dome Autostadt, Wolfsburg
2002	Uptown Girls/Molly Gunn [Boaz Yakin] c
2003	Something's Gotta Give [Nancy Meyers] c; 2uc New York: Susan Starr; 2uc Paris: Pierre Morel
2004	Triell [- Der Kurzfilm] [Su Turhan] HD (Thomson Viper)-to-35mm/c; short/7m; high-speed ph: Ingo Kaske

With dir Martin Scorsese [right] - "The Departed"

2005	The Departed [Martin Scorsese] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Tom Lappin; remake of 'Mou gaan dou/Infernal Affairs' (2002, Andrew Lau & Alan Mak; ph: A. Lau & Yiu-fai Lai)
2007	Der einsame König [Tim Trachte] s16+65mm+HD (ARRI D-21)-to-35mm scope/c; short/5m; prod HFFM
*2009*	Sinatra [Martin Scorsese] announced; status unknown
2012	3096 Tage/3096 Days/Kampusch [Sherry Hormann] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus/scope)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Markus Eckert
2012	Amerika [Alireza Golafshan & Benjamin Pfohl] c; short/?m; prod HFFM

TELEVISION
1959	Alt-Heidelberg [Peter Hamel] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Claus Hermans & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv
1959	Der Kirschgarten [Heinz Hilpert] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Hans Jürgen Thieme & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv
1959	Entscheidung [Walter Knaus] tvm/b&w/68m/v; cph: Hannes Hörner & Gerd Schäfer; prod SWF-tv
1959	Das Genie und die Göttin [Walter Rilla] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Gerd Rosenbaum & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv
1960	Die Kassette [Rudolf Noelte] tvm/b&w/55m/16mm
1960	Die Nachbarskinder [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/36m
1961	Die Nashörner [Gustav Rudolf Sellner] tvm/b&w
1961	Zwischen den Zügen [Peter Beauvais] tvm/b&w/64m/v; cph: Hannes Hörner & Werner Stahl
1963	Der Klassenaufsatz [Harald Benesch] tvm/b&w
1964	Das Martyrium des Peter O'Hey [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/57m/16mm
1965	Große Liebe [Johannes Schaaf] tvm/b&w/16mm
1965	Abschied [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/16mm
1965	Der große Wildenberg - Ein Feuilleton [Herbert Vesely] tvm/b&w/16m
1965	Ein Haus aus lauter Liebe [Herbert Vesely] tvm/b&w/17m
1967	Ivo [Tom Toelle] tvm
1968	Ganze Tage in den Bäumen [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w
1968	Gold für Montevasall [Thomas Engel] tvm/b&w
1968	Der Eine und der Andere [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w
1969	Der Kidnapper [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w
1970	Fassbinder produziert: Film Nr. 8 [Michael Ballhaus & Dietmar Buchmann] doc/b&w/30m/16mm
1970	Die Verabredung mit der Wirklichkeit [Michael Ballhaus] doc/b&w/45m
1971	Der trojanische Sessel [Günter Gräwert] tvm/16mm; cph: Willi Kuhle
1971	Sand [Peter Palitzsch] tvm
1971	Der Marquis von Keith [Hans Lietzau] tvm
1971	Tödlicher Poker [Ulli Lommel] tvm/b&w
1972	Der Held [Hagen Mueller-Stahl] tvm
1972	Adele Spitzeder [Peer Raben] tvm
1972	Ich bin Bürger der DDR [Erika Runge] doc/b&w/16mm
1973	Welt am Draht/World on a Wire [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] 2-part tvm/16mm

[Right behind cam] with R.W. Fassbinder [right/standing] - "Martha"

1973	Martha [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm
1973	Tatort [ep #34 'Tote brauchen keine Wohnung' dir by Wolfgang Staudte] tvm-ep series/16mm; cph: Alfred Hürmer
1974	Rosenmontag [Peter Beauvais] tvm
1974	Unter einem Dach [ep dir by various] 39-part series, 1974-76
1974	Ein Haus für uns - Jugenderholungsheim/Freizeitheim [ep 'Aus der Familie der Panzerechsen' (25m) dir by Wim Wenders (WW), 'Die Insel' (25m) dir by WW & ep *'?'* dir by Peter F. Bringmann] 21-part series/16mm, 1974-75
1975	Die Wahl [Rainer Boldt] tvm/16mm
1975	Dorothea Merz [Peter Beauvais] 2-part tvm/16mm
1975	Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm
1976	Curd Jürgens - Der Filmstar, der vom Theater kam [Bernhard Wicki] doc/16mm; cph: Xaver Schwarzenberger
1976	Auf dem Chimborazo [Peter Beauvais] tvm/66m/16mm
1976	Bolwieser/The Stationmaster's Wife [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] 2-part (104m & 96m) tvm/16mm; cph: Jürgen Jürges; also in theatres (1983; 35bu/112m)
1977	Frauen in New York [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm
1978	Der Gehilfe [Ludwig Cremer] tvm/16mm
1978	Trilogie des Wiedersehens [Peter Stein] tvm/16mm
1979	Groß und klein [Peter Stein] tvm/16mm
*1979*	Berlin Alexanderplatz [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] scheduled as ph, but left during pre-production; replaced by Xaver Schwarzenberger
1979	Alpensaga [ep #5 'Deutscher Frühling' dir by Dieter Berner] 6-part series/16mm, 1976-80; other ph: Horst Knechtel & Franz Xaver Schwarzenberger
1980	Weihnacht 80 [ep #1 'Maria und Josef' dir by Wilhelm Pevny & #3 'Das Menschenkindl' dir by Hilde Berger & Dieter Berner] 3-part series/16mm; other ph: Jirí Stibr
1980	Der Auslöser [Maria Neocleous] tvm/16mm
1985	Death of a Salesman [Volker Schlöndorff] tvm/180m; also theatrical version (136m)
1986	Landscape with Waitress [Jeffrey Townsend] tvm
1988	Baja Oklahoma [Bobby Roth] tvm

MISCELLANEOUS [c.op - consultant - supervisor/mentor - director]
1959	O Wildnis [Harald Braun; tvm] co-c.op; ph: Claus Hermans; prod SWF-tv
1963	Die Möwe [Bohumil Herlischka; tvm] co-c.op; ph: Gerd Rosenbaum; prod SWF-tv
1970	Fassbinder produziert: Film Nr. 8 [tv-doc; co-dir + ph] see Television
1970	Die Verabredung mit der Wirklichkeit [tv-doc; + ph] see Television
1994	Siemens - Wir gehören zur Familie [Michael Ballhaus] doc; ph: ?
2003	Stranded [Abiola Abrams] c; short/7m; visual cons; ph: Ines Djampour
2004	Sonntagsluft - Eine Theaterproduktion in Deutschland [Frank Alva Buecheler] dv/c; doc + theater perf/100m; ph superv; ph: Kaspar Köpke, Kolja Raschke & Markus Zucker; prod DFFB & Fränkisches Theater Schloss Maßbach

[Right] - "Purple Sunrise"

2007	Purple Sunrise/Von der Hingabe [Nina Vukovic] s16/c; short/15m; ph mentor; ph: Armin Dierolf; prod DFFB (film evolved from the 'Michael Ballhaus Seminar 2007'); filmed in April
2008	[Triff die Welt] In Berlin [Michael Ballhaus & Ciro Cappellari] HD (Sony F23)/c; doc/96m; ph: C. Cappellari; 2uc: Tommy Mann; + co-scrpl/appearance
2009	Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - Heute Nacht oder nie [Michael Ballhaus (artistic dir) & Michael Beyer] mus perf/112m (for TV & DVD); ph: Frank Griebe; filmed in February
2009	Die verlorene Zeit/Remembrance [Anna Justice] c; assoc prod; ph: Sebastian Edschmid; filmed December 2009 & June 2010
2009	Unser Franken [Michael & Ulla (his sister) Ballhaus] tv-doc/60m; ph: Frank Jessenberger; filmed 2009-10
2011	Lieben [Michael Ballhaus] c; short/5m; ph: ?; prod HFFM
2012	Ein kurzer Epilog [Züli Aladag] HD scope (ARRI ALEXA)/c; short/5m; superv (as Dozent; prod during his seminar 'Location as a Character'); ph: Friede Clausz; prod HFFM