Edward Berger | |
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.jpg) Berger in 2025 | |
| Born | (1970-06-25)25 June 1970 (age 55) |
| Citizenship | Swiss /Austrian |
| Education | Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (1991) Tisch School of the Arts (1994) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1994–present |
| Works |
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Edward Berger (German:[ˈɛtvaʁtˈbɛʁɡɐ]; born 1970) is aSwiss andAustrian director and screenwriter. He is known for his work in Germany, where he was born and grew up, such as the German filmsJack (2014),All My Loving (2019), andAll Quiet on the Western Front (2022), as well as his English-language debutConclave (2024). He also directed several television series includingDeutschland 83 (2015) andPatrick Melrose (2018).
All Quiet on the Western Front won Berger anAcademy Award forBest International Film, was nominated forBest Adapted Screenplay, and won threeBritish Academy Film Awards. ForConclave, Berger received his firstGolden Globe nomination for Best Director and aBAFTA forOutstanding British Film.
Edward Berger was born in 1970[1] inWolfsburg,Lower Saxony, thenWest Germany.[2] His mother was from Switzerland, and his father, who worked as a logistics manager atVolkswagen, was from Austria.[3][4] He grew up in a middle-class family with three siblings.[2]
Berger graduated from Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium in Wolfsburg in the late 1980s.[2][5] After graduating from theGymnasium, he attended theHochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig from 1990 to 1991. He then transferred to theTisch School of the Arts atNew York University, where he finished his studies in directing in 1994.[2][6]
Berger has both Swiss[8] and Austrian citizenship through his parents.[9][10][1][11][12] He toldDie Welt in 2023 that while he is not German by passport, he supports Germany in international football tournaments.[10] "If Germany plays Switzerland, I'm for Germany", he toldVariety.[4] He toldDie Zeit in 2023: "My father is Austrian, my mother Swiss, so there would be enough reason for me to be a little confused. What I always know is: I am European".[9]
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Berger has worked mostly in Germany and the United States.[13] He gathered his first work experience at the U.S. independent production companyGood Machine, working, among others, on the films ofAng Lee,Todd Haynes,[7][14] andEdward Burns. In 1994 he headed the production department of the company.[11] In 1996 he gave a guest lecture atColumbia University film school,[11] and atUniversität der Künste Berlin[7] and at theHFF Potsdam.
His first feature film, based on his own screenplay, wasGomez – Kopf oder Zahl ("Gomez – Heads or Tails"), in 1998.[11] In 2002, he directed a telemovie calledAsylum, which was nominated for theInternational Emmy Award as well as theGrimme-Preis in Germany. In 2004, he wrote and directed a telemovie,Welcome to the Club.[15]
In 2008, he worked as a screenwriter and director for four episodes of season 2 of television seriesKDD – Kriminaldauerdienst (KDD – Berlin Crime Squad).[15] In 2012, his filmA Good Summer [de] was awarded theGrimme-Preis.[8]
Berger co-wrote the script for his third feature film,Jack with regular collaboratorNele Mueller-Stöfen [de][16] (also his wife[17]). The film premiered in competition at the2014 Berlinale,[16][18] and was awarded the2015 German Film Award in silver for the best feature film, after being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It also won Best Director and Best Picture at theGerman Directors Guild Awards.[15] Berger said in 2023 that he has always looked for a challenge in filmmaking: "That started withJack, where the camera was really only on the boy's face, because I didn't want to give the audience any choice but to identify with him".[14][4]
In August 2014, Berger directed the eight-part television seriesDeutschland 83, which premiered as a special entry in the2015 Berlinale. It was sold internationally, including toCanal+ in France andChannel 4 in the UK, and became the first German television show ever to air in the US.[15] The series won anInternational Emmy in 2016.[8]
He also directed the limited seriesPatrick Melrose (2018), starringBenedict Cumberbatch, for which he won his firstBAFTA Award, for Best Limited Series.[19] His feature filmAll My Loving premiered on 9 February 2019, in the Panorama section of the2019 Berlinale.[20] The film was nominated in several categories for the preselection of the 2019German Film Award.[21]
Berger wrote, directed, and producedAll Quiet on the Western Front, released in 2022.[14] The film received more Oscar nominations than any other German film before it (nine), after winning sevenBAFTAs, surpassing the previous record of five set byCinema Paradiso in 1988.[4] At the Oscars, it won Best International Film.[22] It was praised by critics internationally, but German reviewers and historians criticised it for its lack of closeness to the book and lack of historical accuracy.[23][24]
His 2024 filmConclave, a drama set in theHoly See based on a novel byRobert Harris,[13] enjoyed great success, both critically and with audiences.[3][25][26] He described the film compared withAll Quiet on the Western Front, as "like [going] from a physical war to an intellectual war. It felt like one of those great political conspiracy thrillers from the 1970s".[13] His next film, due to be released in 2025, isBallad of a Small Player, withColin Farrell andTilda Swinton.[13][27] Berger has also directed and produced severalmusic videos,short films, and artist film portraits.[11]
Berger has been slated to direct the next film in theBourne franchise (reportedly titledThe Bourne Dilemma).[28][29] However, in October 2024 Berger was vague about his involvement in the film: "It's really not clear whether… I'm doing that film or not. I'm not doing it right now. And I really don't know what I will do in the future".[30]
Berger has signed to direct the science fiction thriller filmThe Barrier, starringAustin Butler and written by MacMillan Hedges, based on his own short story of the same name.[31] He is also set to direct a film aboutEvan Gershkovich, withDavid Weil set to pen the script.[32] Berger is also attached to directThe Riders, starringBrad Pitt and written byDavid Kajganich, based onthe novel of the same name byTim Winton.[33] He is set to produce1949, an upcoming biopic ofThomas Mann directed byPaweł Pawlikowski, based on the novelThe Magician byColm Tóibín.[34][35][36]
Berger is married to German actress and screenwriterNele Mueller-Stöfen.[37] She has starred in several of Berger's films, as well as collaborating on the script ofJack.[17]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Jack | Yes | Yes | No | [15] |
| 2019 | All My Loving | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2022 | All Quiet on the Western Front | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2024 | Conclave | Yes | No | Executive | |
| 2025 | Ballad of a Small Player | Yes | No | Yes | |
| TBA | 1949 | No | No | Yes | [38] |
TV movie
| Year | Title | Director | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Strait-Jacket | Yes | Yes |
| 1993 | Sidewalk Hotel | Yes | Yes |
| 1994 | Schrottplatz Träumereien | Yes | Yes |
| 1995 | Wanderbread | Yes | Yes |
| 1998 | Gomez – Kopf oder Zahl | Yes | Yes |
| 2001 | Female 2 Seeks Happy End | Yes | Yes |
| 2007 | Windland | Yes | No |
| 2011 | A Good Summer [de] | Yes | Yes |
| 2012 | Mom's Gotta Go [de] | Yes | No |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Schimanski | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Bloch | Yes | No | Episode "Schwestern" |
| 2005–2006 | Under Suspicion | Yes | Yes | Wrote 2 episodes / directed 1 episode |
| 2006–2013 | Tatort | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst | Yes | Yes | Director of 3 episodes / Writer of 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Polizeiruf 110 | Yes | Yes | Episode "Aquarius" |
| 2015 | Deutschland 83 | Yes | No | 5 episodes |
| 2018 | The Terror | Yes | No | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Patrick Melrose | Yes | No | Miniseries |
| 2019 | Eden | No | Yes | Creator; 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Your Honor | Yes | No | 3 episodes |
Individual recognitions
Mein Vater ist Österreicher, meine Mutter Schweizerin, es gäbe also genug Grund für mich, ein wenig verwirrt zu sein. Was ich immer weiß, ist: Ich bin Europäer...ZEIT: Diese Unklarheit müssen Sie ausräumen: Sie sind Deutscher, aber haben außerdem einen Schweizer Pass, richtig? Berger: Ich habe einen österreichischen und einen Schweizer Pass, durch meine Eltern. Aber ich bin in Deutschland geboren. Beim Fußball halte ich klar zu Deutschland.[My father is Austrian, my mother Swiss, so there would be enough reason for me to be a little confused.What I always know is: I am European...ZEIT: You have to clear up this ambiguity: you are German, but also have a Swiss passport right? Berger: I have an Austrian and a Swiss passport through my parents. But I was born in Germany. In football, I clearly stick to Germany.]
Obwohl ... „Sind Sie überhaupt Deutscher, Herr Berger?" – „Vom Pass her nicht. Ich bin Schweiz-Österreicher, aber in Deutschland geboren und aufgewachsen. Wenn Deutschland gegen die Schweiz oder gegen Österreich spielt, bin ich für die Deutschen."[Although ... "Are you even German, Mr. Berger." - "Not by passport. I am Swiss-Austrian, but born and grew up in Germany. When Germany plays against Switzerland or against Austria, I am for the Germans."]
Oh, that is not a conversation yet. I really don't know what I'll be doing next. Up next I have a movie I already shot titled "The Ballad of a Small Player" with Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton. It's coming out in a year. I'm sitting here editing it. Anything that's coming after that I would happily talk about but I don't know yet
...My Salinger Year, Opening of The 70th Berlinale on 20 February 2020 at Berlinale Palace in Berlin
