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[from interview - 2011] |
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MICHAEL BALLHAUS ASC |
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].
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].
Active as ph professor, e.g. Universität Hamburg, DFFB [1967-69, 1982, 2004, etc.] & HFFM.
Was a member of 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].
FILMS |
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1958 |
Traumland der Sehnsucht/Dreamland of Desire/Greece - Land of Desire [Wolfgang Müller-Sehn] us/b&w-c; doc/93m; cph: W. Müller-Sehn; filmed 1958-60 |
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1968 |
Darf ich sie zur Mutter machen?/Mehrmals täglich [Ralf Gregan] b&w |
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1969 |
Deine Zärtlichkeiten [Peter Schamoni & Herbert Vesely (started film)] c |
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1969 |
Wir - zwei/We Two [Ulrich Schamoni] c |
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1970 |
Whity [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] cs/c |
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1970 |
Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte/Beware of a Holy Whore [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1972 |
Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant/The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1972 |
Tschetan, der Indianerjunge/Chetan, Indian Boy [Hark Bohm] c |
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1973 |
Das sündige Bett [Ilja von Anutroff = Ralf Gregan] c; as Michael Alexander |
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1974 |
Made in Germany und USA [Rudolf Thome] 16mm/b&w; ph theatre seq; ph: Martin Schäfer |
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1974 |
Faustrecht der Freiheit/Fox [and His Friends] [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1974 |
Das Amulett des Todes/Cold Blood [Ralf Gregan & Günter Vaessen] c |
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1975 |
Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1975 |
Sommergäste [Peter Stein] c |
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1976 |
Satansbraten/Satan's Brew [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c; ph period January-February 1976; cph: Jürgen Jürges (period October 1975) |
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1976 |
Chinesisches Roulette/Chinese Roulette [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1976 |
Adolf und Marlene/Der Mann vom Obersalzberg [Ulli Lommel] c |
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1976 |
Also es war so…/Willy and the Chinese Cat [Karin Thome] c; cph: Lothar Elias Stickelbrucks |
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1976 |
Nur zum Spaß - nur zum Spiel. Kaleidoskop Valeska Gert, [Volker Schlöndorff] 16mm/c; doc/58m |
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1977 |
Eine Reise ins Licht/Despair [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c |
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1977 |
Venedig - Die Insel der Glückseligen am Rande des Untergangs [Christian Rischert] 16mm/c; doc/101m |
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1977 |
Deutschland im Herbst/Germany in Autumn [seg #2 'Rainer Werner Fassbinder' dir by Rainer Werner Fassbinder] b&w-c; doc + dram seq; 14 seg; other ph: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein, Jürgen Jürges, Dietrich Lohmann, Bodo Kessler, Werner Lüring, Günther Hörmann & Colin Mounier |
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1978 |
Die Ehe der Maria Braun [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c; + small part |
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1978 |
Die erste Polka [Klaus Emmerich] c |
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1978 |
Bourbon Street Blues [group prod HFFM, superv by dir Douglas Sirk] c; short/24m; prod HFFM |
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1979 |
Der Aufstand/La insurrección/The Uprising [Peter Lilienthal] 16mm-35bu/c |
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1980 |
Oye Raimundo, adónde vas?/Kindheit in Amacueca [Jaime Carrasco, Francisco Chavez, Luis Lupone & Jesús Sánchez] 16mm/c; doc/60m; + co-prod |
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1980 |
Malou [Jeanine Meerapfel] c |
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1980 |
Lili Marleen [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] c; cph: Xaver Schwarzenberger |
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1980 |
Looping - Der lange Traum vom kurzen Glück [Walter Bockmayer & Rolf Bührmann] c |
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1981 |
Der Zauberberg/The Magic Mountain [Hans W. Geissendörfer] c; theatrical version (153m) & 3-part tvm (312m); prod started with Robby Müller as ph, but he was replaced by Walter Lassally, who was replaced by M. Ballhaus |
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1981 |
Heute spielen wir den Boss - Wo geht's denn hier zum Film? [Peer Raben] c |
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1981 |
Dear Mr. Wonderful/Citydreams/Ruby's Dream [Peter Lilienthal] c |
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1982 |
Baby, It's You [John Sayles] c |
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1982 |
Heller Wahn/Friends and Husbands/Sheer Madness/L'amie [Margarethe von Trotta] c |
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1983 |
Ediths Tagebuch/Edith's Diary [Hans W. Geissendörfer] c |
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1983 |
Reckless [James Foley] c |
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1983 |
Das Autogramm/The Autograph [Peter Lilienthal] c |
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1983 |
Old Enough [Marisa Silver] c |
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1984 |
Heartbreakers [Bobby Roth] c |
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1985 |
After Hours [Martin Scorsese] c |
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1985 |
Under the Cherry Moon [Prince Rogers Nelson (replaced Mary Lambert)] c; aph: Peter Allwork |
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1986 |
The Color of Money [Martin Scorsese] c |
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1986 |
The House on Carroll Street [Peter Yates] c |
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1987 |
The Glass Menagerie [Paul Newman] c |
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1987 |
Broadcast News [James L. Brooks] c; 2uc: Gregg Heschong |
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1987 |
The Last Temptation of Christ [Martin Scorsese] c |
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Mike Nichols - MB - Florian Ballhaus "Working Girl" - photo Andrew Schwartz - Thys Ockersen Archive |
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1988 |
Working Girl [Mike Nichols] c |
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1988 |
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [Frank Oz] c |
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1988 |
The Fabulous Baker Boys [Steve Kloves] c; spph: Karen Miller |
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1989 |
Goodfellas [Martin Scorsese] c; film was finished by ph Barry Sonnenfeld because Ballhaus had to move on to his next assignment |
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1989 |
Postcards from the Edge [Mike Nichols] c |
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1990 |
Guilty by Suspicion [Irwin Winkler] c |
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1990 |
What About Bob? [Frank Oz] c; addph: David M. Walsh |
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1991 |
The Mambo Kings [Arne Glimcher] c; pick-up ph: Nestor Almendros; 2uc: Gábor Kövér |
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1991 |
[Bram Stoker's] Dracula [Francis Ford Coppola] c; 2uc: Steve Yaconelli; miniature ph: Bill Neil |
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1992 |
The Age of Innocence [Martin Scorsese] s35/c; optical ph: David S. Williams Jr.; matte ph: Mark Sawicki & John Sullivan |
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1992 |
I'll Do Anything [James L. Brooks] c |
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1993 |
Quiz Show [Robert Redford] c |
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1994 |
Outbreak [Wolfgang Petersen] c; 2uc: Mark Vargo & David M. Dunlap; aph: David B. Nowell |
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1995 |
Up Close & Personal [Jon Avnet] replaced by Karl Walter Lindenlaub after falling ill during pre-production |
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1995 |
Sleepers [Barry Levinson] s35/c |
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1996 |
Der Tote vom anderen Ufer [Lenard Fritz Krawinkel] c; short/8m; prod HFFM |
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1996 |
Kreuz & quer [Anteij Farak, Lenard Fritz Krawinkel, a.o.] ?; prod HFFM |
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1996 |
Air Force One [Wolfgang Petersen] s35/c; 2uc: David M. Dunlap; vfx ph: Garry D. Waller & David K. Stewart |
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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 |
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1997 |
Primary Colors [Mike Nichols] s35/c |
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1998 |
Dino [Martin Scorsese] a Dean Martin biography; canceled |
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1998 |
Wild Wild West [Barry Sonnenfeld] c; cph: Stefan Czapsky; 2uc: David M. Dunlap, Bill Pope, Chuck Shuman & Raymond Stella; aph: David B. Nowell |
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1999 |
What Planet Are You From? [Mike Nichols] c; 2uc: Florian Ballhaus |
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2000 |
Gone Underground [Su Turhan] HD (Sony F900)-to-35mm/c; short/9m |
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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 |
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2000 |
The Legend of Bagger Vance [Robert Redford] c; 2uc: Florian Ballhaus |
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2001 |
Mutti/Mummy [Su Turhan] vv/c; comm short/?m; for Volkswagen's Film Dome Autostadt, Wolfsburg |
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2002 |
Uptown Girls/Molly Gunn [Boaz Yakin] c |
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2003 |
Something's Gotta Give [Nancy Meyers] c; 2uc New York: Susan Starr; 2uc Paris: Pierre Morel |
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2004 |
Triell [- Der Kurzfilm] [Su Turhan] HD (Thomson Viper)-to-35mm/c; short/7m; high-speed ph: Ingo Kaske |
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With dir Martin Scorsese [right] "The Departed" |
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2005 |
The Departed [Martin Scorsese] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Tom Lappin |
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2007 |
Der einsame König [Tim Trachte] s16+65mm+HD (ARRI D-21)-to-35mm scope/c; short/5m; prod HFFM |
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2009 |
Sinatra [Martin Scorsese] announced |
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2012 |
3096 Tage/Kampusch [Sherry Hormann] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus)/c; 2uc: Markus Eckert |
TELEVISION |
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1959 |
Alt-Heidelberg [Peter Hamel] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Claus Hermans & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv |
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1959 |
Der Kirschgarten [Heinz Hilpert] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Hans Jürgen Thieme & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv |
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1959 |
Entscheidung [Walter Knaus] tvm/b&w/68m/v; cph: Hannes Hörner & Gerd Schäfer; prod SWF-tv |
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1959 |
Das Genie und die Göttin [Walter Rilla] tvm/b&w/v; cph: Gerd Rosenbaum & Hannes Hörner; prod SWF-tv |
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1960 |
Die Kassette [Rudolf Noelte] tvm/b&w/55m/16mm |
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1960 |
Die Nachbarskinder [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/36m |
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1961 |
Die Nashörner [Gustav Rudolf Sellner] tvm/b&w |
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1961 |
Zwischen den Zügen [Peter Beauvais] tvm/b&w/64m/v; cph: Hannes Hörner & Werner Stahl |
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1963 |
Der Klassenaufsatz [Harald Benesch] tvm/b&w |
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1964 |
Das Martyrium des Peter O'Hey [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/57m/16mm |
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1965 |
Große Liebe [Johannes Schaaf] tvm/b&w/16mm |
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1965 |
Abschied [Peter Lilienthal] tvm/b&w/16mm |
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1965 |
Der große Wildenberg - Ein Feuilleton [Herbert Vesely] tvm/b&w/16m |
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1965 |
Ein Haus aus lauter Liebe [Herbert Vesely] tvm/b&w/17m |
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1967 |
Ivo [Tom Toelle] tvm |
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1968 |
Ganze Tage in den Bäumen [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w |
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1968 |
Gold für Montevasall [Thomas Engel] tvm/b&w |
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1968 |
Der Eine und der Andere [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w |
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1969 |
Der Kidnapper [Tom Toelle] tvm/b&w |
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1970 |
Fassbinder produziert: Film Nr. 8 [Michael Ballhaus & Dietmar Buchmann] doc/b&w/30m/16mm |
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1970 |
Die Verabredung mit der Wirklichkeit [Michael Ballhaus] doc/b&w/45m |
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1971 |
Der trojanische Sessel [Günter Gräwert] tvm/16mm; cph: Willi Kuhle |
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1971 |
Sand [Peter Palitzsch] tvm |
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1971 |
Der Marquis von Keith [Hans Lietzau] tvm |
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1971 |
Tödlicher Poker [Ulli Lommel] tvm/b&w |
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1972 |
Der Held [Hagen Mueller-Stahl] tvm |
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1972 |
Adele Spitzeder [Peer Raben] tvm |
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1972 |
Ich bin Bürger der DDR [Erika Runge] doc/b&w/16mm |
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1973 |
Welt am Draht/World on a Wire [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] 2-part tvm/16mm |
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[Right - behind camera] with dir R.W. Fassbinder [right - standing] - "Martha" |
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1973 |
Martha [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm |
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1973 |
Tatort [ep #34 'Tote brauchen keine Wohnung' dir by Wolfgang Staudte] tvm-ep series/16mm; cph: Alfred Hürmer |
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1974 |
Rosenmontag [Peter Beauvais] tvm |
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1974 |
Unter einem Dach [ep dir by various] 39-part series, 1974-76 |
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1974 |
Ein Haus für uns - Jugenderholungsheim/Freizeitheim [ep 'Aus der Familie der Panzerechsen' (25m) & 'Die Insel' (25m) dir by Wim Wenders & ep ? dir by Peter F. Bringmann] 21-part series/16mm, 1974-75 |
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1975 |
Die Wahl [Rainer Boldt] tvm/16mm |
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1975 |
Dorothea Merz [Peter Beauvais] 2-part tvm/16mm |
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1975 |
Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm |
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1976 |
Curd Jürgens - Der Filmstar, der vom Theater kam [Bernhard Wicki] doc/16mm; cph: Xaver Schwarzenberger |
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1976 |
Auf dem Chimborazo [Peter Beauvais] tvm/66m/16mm |
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1976 |
Bolwieser/The Stationmaster's Wife [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] 2-part (104m & 96m) tvm/16mm; cph: Jürgen Jürges; also in theatres (1983; 35bu/112m) |
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1977 |
Frauen in New York [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] tvm/16mm |
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1978 |
Der Gehilfe [Ludwig Cremer] tvm/16mm |
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1978 |
Trilogie des Wiedersehens [Peter Stein] tvm/16mm |
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1979 |
Groß und klein [Peter Stein] tvm/16mm |
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1979 |
Berlin Alexanderplatz [Rainer Werner Fassbinder] scheduled as ph, but left during pre-production; replaced by Xaver Schwarzenberger |
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1979 |
Alpensaga [ep #5 'Deutscher Frühling' dir by Dieter Berner] 6-part series/16mm, 1976-80; other ph: Horst Knechtel & Franz Xaver Schwarzenberger |
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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 |
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1980 |
Der Auslöser [Maria Neocleous] tvm/16mm |
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1985 |
Death of a Salesman [Volker Schlöndorff] tvm/180m; also theatrical version (136m) |
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1986 |
Landscape with Waitress [Jeffrey Townsend] tvm |
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1988 |
Baja Oklahoma [Bobby Roth] tvm |
MISCELLANEOUS [consultant - supervisor/mentor - director] |
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1994 |
Siemens - Wir gehören zur Familie [Michael Ballhaus] doc; ph: ? |
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2003 |
Stranded [Abiola Abrams] c; short/7m; visual cons; ph: Ines Djampour |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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2009 |
Die verlorene Zeit/Remembrance [Anna Justice] c; assoc prod; ph: Sebastian Edschmid; filmed December 2009 & June 2010 |
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2011 |
Lieben [Michael Ballhaus] c; short/5m; ph: ?; prod HFFM |
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2012 |
Ein kurzer Epilog [Züli Aladag] HD scope (ARRI ALEXA)/c; short/4m55s; superv (as Dozent; prod during his seminar 'Location as a Character'); ph: Friede Clausz; prod HFFM |
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