PETER ZEITLINGER (visit: www.zeitlinger.com)

director a long feature film and of many short films
cinematographer of 20 movies for cinema and TV, six series
author of 4 screenplays
editor of 3 movies
teacher for film and TV at the University of Art "MOZARTEUM" in Austria

movies directed by Peter Zeitlinger visit: www.gozillas.de
since 1978 approx.. 20 short and experimental films
2001 WHO`S KILLING MY HUSBAND?, feature film
2000 FEINDBILD (CONCEPT OF AN ENEMY), co-director: Holger Gotha
1999 THE CORPS, short film, director and editor
1999 MAYDAY ON THE HIGH SEES, second-unit director & D.O.P
1998 CARBRAKE, co-director with Silvia Zeitlinger
1996 TERROR, second-unit director & D.O.P. with Ron Hutchinson USA
1992 THE SMILE OF MACA DARACZ, second-unit director &.operator for Dieter Berner
1986 LEBEN UM ZU STERBEN (LIVING TO DIE) author, director and editor
1984 ABENDGRAUEN (SUNSET OF HORROR) author, director and editor

movies photographed by Peter Zeitlinger (full feature length): visit: www.zeitlinger.com

2009 MY SON, MY SON WHAT HAVE YE DONE produced by David Lynch, directed by Werner Herzog
2008 BAD LIEUTENANT with Nic Cage,Val Kilmer, Micheal Shannon and Eva Mendes
MEN DON´T LYE with Holger Gotha, produced by Philipp Weinges
2007 ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD Academy Award Nomination 2009 Cinema Eye Award for best Cinematography
2006 DREAMHOTEL Romy Award for best Cinematography
2005 RESCUE DAWN with Christian Bale, Jeremy Davies, Steven Zahn, directed by Werner Herzog
PRIESTS LOVE (with Otti Fischer, Maximilian Schell, directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb)
2004 VIENNIESE BLOOD directed by Dirk Rekel
GRIZZLY MAN with Timothy Thredwell, directed by Werner Herzog
2003 FOR EVER YOUNG produced by Bernadette Schugg, PRO7-Movie
MEN IN BEST AGE, director Hajo Gies, cast: Fritz Wepper, Friedrich von Thun
2002 THE BESTSELLER, with the german superstar Otti Fischer, directed by Jörg Grünler
APPEAL AGAINST LOVE, written by Philip Weinges, directed by Helmut Metzger
2001 WHEEL OF TIME (with his holliness the Dalai Lama by Werner Herzog)
ASTROLOGER FOR LOVE, director H.Metzger
2000 INVCINCIBLE with Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction), director: Werner Herzog, TAT-Film-FineLine Cinema USA- Little Bird UK
BARGELD LACHT (CASH SHINES BRIGHTLY), TV-movie directed by Hajo Gies
1999 WINGS OF HOPE, by Werner Herzog
STRAßEN VON BERLIN, episodes 14, 16, 17, 18; director: W. Masten
MAYDAY ON THE HIGH SEAS, TV adventure movie by Werner Masten
DER KAPITÄN "Das Geheimnis der Viking" (THE CAPTAIN "The Secret of the Viking"), director: H. Metzger
1997 STRAßEN VON BERLIN "TERROR", director: Werner Masten
LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY, BBC & ZDF, director: Werner Herzog, nominated for the Emmy Avard
1995 PRINCE OF DARKNESS,director: Werner Herzog - Prix d´ Italia
1994 TIERISCHE LIEBE (ANIMAL LOVE), author and director: Ulrich Seidl
1996 DER KAPITÄN "Zwischen den Fronten" (THE CAPTAIN "Between the Front Lines"), director: E. Riedlsperger
1995 STRAßEN VON BERLIN "Die letzte Fahrt der Ashanty Star" (STREETS OF BERLIN "The last trip of the Ashanty Star"), director: Werner Masten)
1994 DREI SEKUNDEN EWIGKEIT (ETERNITY FOR 3 SECONDS), with J.Stemberger, P.Turrini, dir: J.Graser
1993 TIEF OBEN (DEEP UP), with Barbara Steel and the Zinkers, director: Willy Hengstler
1992 MIT VERLUST IST ZU RECHNEN (PREPARE FOR LOSSES), Berlin Film Festival 1994, by Ulrich Seidl
1991 DER NACHBAR (THE NEIGHBOUR), San Sebastian Film Festival & other festivals
1990 ERWIN&JULIETTE, Locarno Film Festival & other festivals
1989 GOOD NEWS, long-running festival success by Ulrich Seidl
1988 TUNNELKIND (TUNNELCHILD), Berlin Film Festival 1989 & other festivals

TV-series:
1998 KAISERMÜHLENBLUES (KAISERMÜHLEN BLUES)-13 episodes
1997 SINGLES - 3 episodes
1996 UNSER LEHRER DOKTOR SPECHT (OUR TEACHER DOCTOR SPECHT), 13 episodes
1994 AUF IMMER UND EWIG (FOR EVER AND EVER), 13 episodes1993 OPERATION DUNAREA - 6 episodes

Screenplays written by Peter Zeitlinger:
2004 LILAC AND FALG original story by John Berger
2003 IT WILL START AT THE END co-written by Silvia Zeitlinger
1999 GOOD GIRLS GO TO HEAVEN, BAD GIRLS GO EVERYWHERE, co-written by Holger Gotha and Silvia Zeitlinger
1998 CONCEPT OF THE ENEMY, co-written by Holger Gotha & Silvia Zeitlinger)
1991 EINE SCHÄDIGUNG (ABUSED), co-written by Silvia Vas, based on a novel by Libuše Moníková)
1987 DAS TUNNELKIND (TUNNELCHILD), awarded Best Script at the Donaufestival, Berlin Film Festival

Background:
Peter Zeitlinger studied cinema and TV at the Vienna University of Art & graduated in cinematography and editing
Concurrently he studied ethics at the University of Philosophy in Vienna
he worked as lighting technician for David Watkin (Academy Award Winner with Catch 22, Out of Africa)
he operated 2nd unit- and action-camera for various American productions
he attended scriptwriting workshops by Robert Mac Kee und Syd Field
for many years now he has worked intensively with Werner Herzog

 

Biography for
Peter Zeitlinger

Date of Birth
6 June 1960, Prague, Czech Republic

Mini Biography
Peter Zeitlinger is an accomplished filmmaker whose career encompasses cinematography, directing, writing and editing. Zeitlinger is working with Werner Herzog since 1995 when he was director of photography on the director's documentary Death For Five Voices. That film began an intensive collaboration that has yielded such documentaries as Little Dieter Needs To Fly, My Best Fiend, Wheel of Time, and Grizzly Man as well as the drama Invincible and Rescue Dawn. His work has garnered a lot of awards and nominations. "Encounters at the End of the World" was nominated for the Oscar, and won the Cinema Eye Award for Outstanding Achievment in Cinematography and "Dreamhotel Africa" won the Austrian Romy Award for best Cinematography.

Childhood: Peter Zeitlinger was born in Prague. Due to the turbulences during the Soviet occupation in 68 and the political instability he left the country with his mother and moved to the neighboring and neutral country of Austria. Not even 10 years old young Zeitlinger had to learn a new mother tongue. Being forced to express himself in a new way, he started painting and sketching a lot.

At the age of thirteen Zeitlinger discovered the possibility of making images move. A friend's father had an 8mm camera and kept it in his gynecologist's practice. When during the heights of puberty he and his friend secretly observed the gynecologist at work, they discovered the camera. During the night he would sneak into the practice and borrow the camera. For many nights he used the operating light in the practice and worked on his own animated films before he sneaked out of the practice at the crack of dawn. One night he was discovered by his friend's father but strangely enough he was not told off! Instead, the wealthy doctor was so deeply moved by the animated films that he gave his camera to the "poor refugees' child". Now it became possible for Zeitlinger to work in the outside world during the daytime. For one of his first films "We Walked" he was awarded a youth film festival prize and was given a camera with zoom and audio recording features. That was when filming really lifted off. Until he was accepted at the Academy for Film he had produced a good 70 short or animated films. His first animated film "Der Geburtstag" (The Birthday) was his ticket to university, because being a taciturn person he otherwise would not have survived amongst all the talkative chatter boxes.

At University Michael Snow and Peter Kubelka became his admired and most influential teachers. He had met Kubelka in Linz and had been impressed by the latter's all-encompassing concept of art. Kubelka introduced him to the interrelations between music, cooking and film making. All of these three forms of expressing life obey the same rules: composing (i.e. montage, composition) and perceptions in the course of time (dramatic plot). In addition to the courses at the academy Zeitlinger also attended lectures by Lachmayer and Prof Mader who read at the Vienna philosophical institute. He also studied Management of Arts under Jungblut and Dieter Ronte trying to graduate as an MA. The theoretical essays by Zeitlinger, first published in the University newsletter brought about a remarkable uproar amongst his teachers, because in "Abschaffung der Montage" (Abolishing Montage), which was based on profound philosophical knowledge, Zeitlinger meticulously managed to proof that a "Filmgrammatik" (Grammar of Films) does not exist. Although he was not enrolled in directing it was the lecturers from the directing department (A. Stummer and A. Corti) who strongly spoke out in favor of him being admitted to the exams, which were quite threatened at the time. Zeitlinger graduated with excellency.

During his university years he had already written a number of scripts. One of the scripts co-written with Erhard Riedlsperger was "Tunnelkind" (Tunnel Child). The film is set at the Czech-Austrian border where the Iron Curtain was erected during the late 60s. Borders and marginalization are recurring topics in his work. Although many of the films he had produced during his university years were awarded several prizes it was due to the highly bureaucratic structures in Austria that it first seemed impossible for a young graduate from university to work as a Director of Photography (DOP). Normally, years of assistance and begging were to be endured first. After a debate sparked off by Zeitlinger the directorate of the film institute decided to allow an exception to the rule: for the first time a first-time director was allowed to select the DOP of his choice, for his first full-length film. The media, as well as the film business and the fellow students were keen to observe the making of this film at the Czech-Austrian border. On a daily basis the latest shots were assessed by a committee even before the director or the DOP had seen them, and the committee then had to grant permission to continue with the project. An experienced replacement crew was kept on call to take over, in case the project would fail. After one week at work the replacement crew was sent home. A little later the film was invited to the International Berlin Filmfestival. The film tells the story of a little girl who manages to convince the chief builder at a construction site for the electric fence to build the fence above a secret tunnel in order to leave an escape into freedom. During the production of Tunnelkind the Iron Curtain for Czechoslovakia was abolished. Reality seemed to catch up with fiction. The Berlin Film Festival was also dominated by the liberalization of the communist countries and the film was applauded as dealing marvelously with current affairs.

After Werner Herzog watched Zeitlinger's outstanding hand held camera work in Ulrich Seidls "Prepared for losses", Herzog hired him for the documentary "Death for Five Voices" which immediately won the Prix d Italia. Zeitlinger has been Herzogs favorite DP since that time. They worked together on the Hollywood Production Rescue Dawn which is released by MGM. His meticulous attention to detail and the whole context, his unique visual style of the camera movements added immeasurably to the quality of the film. In 2006 he and Werner Herzog were selected for the US-Antarctic Programm by the US National Science Foundation as writer and artist. "Encounters at the End of the World" was nominated for the Oscar 2009. "Bad Lieutenant" with Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer and Eva Mendes and "My Son, my Son what have Ye done" are the last films which Peter Zeitlinger shot with Werner Herzog.

writen by Bryan Hillman