Tom Tykwer

TOM TYKWER

Date of Birth: May 23, 1965

Born in Wuppertal, Germany, Tykwer was fascinated with films at an early age. When he was 14, he worked at the local movie theatre where he would watch the theatre's copy of Blade Runner over and over. After completing school, Tykwer did some community service to avoid compulsory military service.

In 1984 he moved to Berlin, again working at a movie theatre. During his ten years at the theatre, he met and got involved with a film crew that met there regularly. With their help, he created his first short, Because, and presented it at the 1991 Hof Film Festival.

The film impressed enough viewers to encourage him to work on his first feature film, Deadly Maria (Die todliche Maria), released in 1993. A year later Tykwer joined forces with producer Stefan Arndt and a number of other directors to start up the production company X-Filme Creative Pool. There he helped write the film Das Leben ist eine Baustelle, and released his second feature Wintersleepers.

Although Wintersleepers wasn't released in English until 2000, it made waves in Europe, earning numerous awards and nominations including Best Director at the Gijon International Film Festival, a Silver at the German Film Awards and a Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.

In 1998, Tykwer released Run Lola Run (Lola rennt), which found a very receptive English speaking audience in 1999. The film not only won eight categories at the German Film Awards, but recognition and awards from across the globe. At the turn of the century, he released his first English-language film, Heaven (2002) and in 2006 won a Bambi Award for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer(2006).

Unmarried, Tykwer and longtime companion, Franka Potente, ended their relationship in 2002.

Filmography:

Deutschland 09 (2009)
The International (2009)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Paris, je t'aime (2006)
Heaven (2002)
Der Krieger und die Kaiserin / The Princess and the Warrior (2000)
Lola rennt / Run Lola Run (1998)
Winterschläfer / Wintersleepers (1997)
Die Tödliche Maria / Deadly Maria (1994)
Epilog (1992)
Because (1990)