Arne Birkenstock

He was one of Europe's best documentary filmmakers in the fields of directing and production

Arne Birkenstock (1967–2025) was a producer, director and writer of successful cinema documentaries such as 12 Tangos – Adios Buenos Aires, Chandani and Her Elephant (German Film Award for ‘Best Children's Film’), ‘Sound of Heimat’ and ‘Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery’ (German Film Award for ‘Best Documentary Film’). In 2004, he founded his film production company Fruitmarket Kultur und Medien GmbH in Cologne. As a producer, he worked with directors such as Milo Rau, Uli Gaulke, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Heidi Specogna, Tonje Hessen Schei, Yasemin and Nesrin Samdereli, producing films such as ‘Die Nacht der Nächte’ (Bavarian Film Award 2017), ‘Das Kongo Tribunal’ (nominated for the Swiss and German Film Awards 2018) and ‘Sunset Over Mulholland Drive’. He was involved in teaching, lecturing and consulting in the fields of film production and documentary film directing, and also lectured on cultural and media policy issues at the University of Music and Drama Hanover, the TP2 Talent Pool Mitteldeutschland, the Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam, and the CIAM International Art Management programme in Cologne and Düsseldorf, among others.

In 2004, he founded his film production company Fruitmarket Kultur und Medien GmbH in Cologne. As a producer, he worked with directors such as Milo Rau, Uli Gaulke, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Heidi Specogna, Tonje Hessen Schei, Yasemin and Nesrin Samdereli, producing films such as ‘Die Nacht der Nächte’ (Bavarian Film Award 2017), ‘Das Kongo Tribunal’ (nominated for the Swiss and German Film Awards 2018) and ‘Sunset Over Mulholland Drive’. He was involved in teaching, lecturing and consulting in the fields of film production and documentary film directing, and also lectured on cultural and media policy issues at the University of Music and Drama Hanover, the TP2 Talent Pool Mitteldeutschland, the Konrad Wolf Film University in Potsdam, and the CIAM International Art Management programme in Cologne and Düsseldorf, among others.

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