DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN(THE LIVES OF OTHERS)

Germany/2006/German dialogue with English subtitles/35mm/137 mins

We are in the dark of the Communist regime in East Germany in the 1980s. A government minister has his eye upon the famous and beautiful actress Christa Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), who lives with an equally successful playwright, Geord Dreymann (Sebastian Koch), who is loyal to the regime. Captain Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), a Stasi policeman who believes no one is innocent, becomes obsessed with proving that the couple are actually subversives. Encouraged by his boss, Wiesler (his cold efficiency intensely conveyed by Mühe) ironically begins to doubt his role as a spy in the attic just as he begins to be proved correct. With its remarkable performances and totally persuasive atmosphere, this is a dark, utterly convincing political thriller. Acclaimed internationally by critics, it took seven national Film Awards in Germany, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actor, for Mühe, and was also enormously successful with the public.

FLORIAN HENCKEL VON DONNERSMARCK was born in 1973 in Cologne. After studying Russian in St. Petersburg he read Political Science, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University and since 1997 has studied direction at the Academy of Film and Television in Munich. His short films include the award-winning Dobermann (1999), Les mythes urbains (2001) and Der Templer (2002). The Lives of Others is his feature debut.

Director & Scriptwriter: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Producers: Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann
Cinematographer: Hagen Bogdanski
Editor: Patricia Rommel
Composer: Gabriel Yared
Cast: Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Tukur