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11/28/08
The long Michael-Ballhaus-Night on the German National TV Station Bayerisches Fernsehen on November 29, 2008
The Portrait “A Journey Through My Life” to be premiered
The Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) dedicates the night from November 29 to 30, 2008 to cameraman Michael Ballhaus with an wide-ranging program. The first feature will be THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (1978/79) at 8.15 pm, the film – one of the greatest international cinematic successes of the New German Film – highlights the long collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. This movie was certainly a crucial step towards Ballhaus’ subsequent success in Hollywood. Yet, his work with other renowned directors of the era, among them repeatedly Peter Lilienthal – he shot DEAR MR. WONDERFUL with him in 1982 – is not to be underestimated in this context. It was during this time that he met director John Sayles in New York. In his film BABY IT’S YOU (1982), Ballhaus first worked as “director of photography” in an entirely American production.
Starting at 10.15 pm, the portrait “MICHAEL BALLHAUS – A Journey Through My Life” (2008), directed by Vera Tschechowa, sums up the places, the companions and especially the history of the Ballhaus family in concise images. Dustin Hoffman is one of the companions whose intense friendship is particularly noteworthy.
During 40 years, the Hollywood luminary Ballhaus was the director of photography in almost 90 movies; therefore, it is not easy to take his declared departure from “work behind the camera” too seriously. After his last successful collaboration with Scorsese in THE DEPARTED (2006) Ballhaus declared his farewell, at least in the US. However, in view of his numerous ongoing projects – among them with students from the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie (dffb) and, starting in January 2009, also as an adjunct professor at Munich’s HFF – it appears that Michael Ballhaus is still “un-retired.” At the moment, he stresses the necessity for global climate control with his environment-spots.
Three of his films received Oscar nominations: At 11.15 pm THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989 / director: Steven Kloves) will be aired. At exactly 1.00 am the cinematic “circle tour” on BR will terminate with Fassbinder’s key movie THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972). For his amazing visualization of this drama, Michael Ballhaus received his first Golden Film Band in 1973, the predecessor of the present Deutscher Filmpreis trophy LOLA.
An overview of the Bayerischer Rundfunk’s program may be found under:
http://www.br-online.de
Photo on left: Martin Scorsese and Michael Ballhaus, 2007 © BR
Photo on right: Michael Ballhaus during the making of MARTHA, 1973 © WDR
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