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Photo of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Photo: Deutsches Filmmuseum / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

フロリアン・ヘンケル・フォン・ドナースマルク / ふろりあん・へんける・ふぉん・どなーすまるく

Film director from Germany

May 2, 1973 (age 53) ・ Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

  • North Rhine-Westphalia
  • film director
  • screenwriter
  • film producer

My Take

For me, The Lives of Others is one of the great debut features, full stop. Henckel von Donnersmarck took the suffocating world of Stasi surveillance and found the human flicker inside it, and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film felt entirely earned. The aristocratic German-Austrian background and that towering full name almost feel like a costume next to the restraint of the filmmaking itself. His later Hollywood work never quite matched that first peak for me, but very few directors get to make a film that defines a national memory. He cleared that bar on his first try, which is rare.

Overview

Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (German: [ˈfloː.ʁi.aːn ˈhɛŋ.kl̩ fɔn ˈdɔ.nɐsˌmaʁk] ; born 2 May 1973) is a German-Austrian film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2006 dramatic thriller Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English)
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Name (Japanese)
フロリアン・ヘンケル・フォン・ドナースマルク
Reading
ふろりあん・へんける・ふぉん・どなーすまるく
Born
May 2, 1973 (age 53)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
Taurus / Ox
Origin
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Blood type
Private
Height
Private
Agency
Private
Occupation
film director / screenwriter / film producer / film editor / director

2. Background

Elementary school
Private
Junior high
Private
High school
Private
University
University of Television and Film Munich

Awards & achievements

  • Bavarian Order of Merit
  • 2007 Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • 2008 César Award for Best Foreign Film
  • Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
  • 2006 European Film Award for Best Film
  • 2006 European Film Award for Best Screenwriter

3. Relationships

Spouse
Private
Children
Private
Parents
Private
Siblings
Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

5. Works & records

CategoryTitleRoleYear
Notable workThe Lives of Others

Film director — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from Germany →

7. About this entry

Tags

  • North Rhine-Westphalia
  • film director
  • screenwriter
  • film producer
Last updated
2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.