Directing

André Schäfer

Born

1966-08-30 (60)

Place of birth

Troisdorf, Germany

Known for

Directing

Credits

41 titles

Known for

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Blauer Panther

1989

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef poster
7.0

The biography of Hildegard Knef – born in Ulm in 1925, died in Berlin in 2002 – reflects post-war and divided Germany. It also reflects the vitality, hypocrisy, and sensationalism of our society and the media that feeds it. The film features numerous original interviews with Knef, excerpts from feature films, concert recordings that testify to her stage presence, which is still incredible today, as well as TV reports from Berlin, New York, and elsewhere. In addition to her, friends and relatives, contemporary witnesses, colleagues, and journalists also have their say.

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef

2025

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man poster
7.0

A feature film that traces the 50-year journey behind Confessions of Felix Krull, revealing the writer’s hidden struggle with his homosexuality. Though a literary superstar with a polished, upper-class façade and a married life with six children, Mann’s diaries expose an insecure man suppressing deep desires. The film follows Mann’s creative and personal exile—from Eltville to Paris and Lisbon—using archival letters and diary entries alongside dramatized scenes. It blurs the lines between Mann and his seductive alter ego Felix Krull, both masters of deception navigating identity, longing, and survival amid exile and political upheaval. This hybrid documentary unveils the fragile, often hidden man behind the myth.

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man

2024

Bruno Ganz - The Longing Revolutionary poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bruno Ganz - The Longing Revolutionary

2022

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger poster
4.4

Rock Hudson was a virile screen idol who was the epitome of clean-cut masculinity. He was one of the first Hollywood celebrities to die of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, providing the killer virus with a famous face amidst the American AIDS paranoia of 1985. 2010 is not only the 25th anniversary of his death but would also have been his 85 birthday. The film investigates the many film roles Rock Hudson played, against the more intimate and private world of Roy Fitzgerald.

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger

2010

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Er war Superstar - Falco

2017

Series credits

Behind the camera

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef poster
7.0

The biography of Hildegard Knef – born in Ulm in 1925, died in Berlin in 2002 – reflects post-war and divided Germany. It also reflects the vitality, hypocrisy, and sensationalism of our society and the media that feeds it. The film features numerous original interviews with Knef, excerpts from feature films, concert recordings that testify to her stage presence, which is still incredible today, as well as TV reports from Berlin, New York, and elsewhere. In addition to her, friends and relatives, contemporary witnesses, colleagues, and journalists also have their say.

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef

2025

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef poster
7.0

The biography of Hildegard Knef – born in Ulm in 1925, died in Berlin in 2002 – reflects post-war and divided Germany. It also reflects the vitality, hypocrisy, and sensationalism of our society and the media that feeds it. The film features numerous original interviews with Knef, excerpts from feature films, concert recordings that testify to her stage presence, which is still incredible today, as well as TV reports from Berlin, New York, and elsewhere. In addition to her, friends and relatives, contemporary witnesses, colleagues, and journalists also have their say.

So oder so ist das Leben – Hildegard Knef

2025

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man poster
7.0

A feature film that traces the 50-year journey behind Confessions of Felix Krull, revealing the writer’s hidden struggle with his homosexuality. Though a literary superstar with a polished, upper-class façade and a married life with six children, Mann’s diaries expose an insecure man suppressing deep desires. The film follows Mann’s creative and personal exile—from Eltville to Paris and Lisbon—using archival letters and diary entries alongside dramatized scenes. It blurs the lines between Mann and his seductive alter ego Felix Krull, both masters of deception navigating identity, longing, and survival amid exile and political upheaval. This hybrid documentary unveils the fragile, often hidden man behind the myth.

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man

2024

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man poster
7.0

A feature film that traces the 50-year journey behind Confessions of Felix Krull, revealing the writer’s hidden struggle with his homosexuality. Though a literary superstar with a polished, upper-class façade and a married life with six children, Mann’s diaries expose an insecure man suppressing deep desires. The film follows Mann’s creative and personal exile—from Eltville to Paris and Lisbon—using archival letters and diary entries alongside dramatized scenes. It blurs the lines between Mann and his seductive alter ego Felix Krull, both masters of deception navigating identity, longing, and survival amid exile and political upheaval. This hybrid documentary unveils the fragile, often hidden man behind the myth.

Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man

2024

Bruno Ganz - The Longing Revolutionary poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bruno Ganz - The Longing Revolutionary

2022

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger poster
4.4

Rock Hudson was a virile screen idol who was the epitome of clean-cut masculinity. He was one of the first Hollywood celebrities to die of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, providing the killer virus with a famous face amidst the American AIDS paranoia of 1985. 2010 is not only the 25th anniversary of his death but would also have been his 85 birthday. The film investigates the many film roles Rock Hudson played, against the more intimate and private world of Roy Fitzgerald.

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger

2010

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger poster
4.4

Rock Hudson was a virile screen idol who was the epitome of clean-cut masculinity. He was one of the first Hollywood celebrities to die of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, providing the killer virus with a famous face amidst the American AIDS paranoia of 1985. 2010 is not only the 25th anniversary of his death but would also have been his 85 birthday. The film investigates the many film roles Rock Hudson played, against the more intimate and private world of Roy Fitzgerald.

Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger

2010

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Er war Superstar - Falco

2017

James Dean: Little Prince, Little Bastard poster
6.6

The collar of his coat turned up in New York: Images which have collaborated on building a myth – the image of eternal and misunderstood youth. Unlike Marlon Brando, the proletarian rebel with identifiable goals, James Dean was the timeless and androgynous youthful rebel. His death on the Interstate 46 leads us back to 1950s America, a time when youth was re-interpreted all anew.

James Dean: Little Prince, Little Bastard

2005

The Romanovs: Glory and Fall of the Czars poster
6.2

Yekaterinburg, Russia, July 17th, 1917. Czar Nicholas II Romanov and his entire family are brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks. This tragic event puts an end to the long dynasty that had ruled the country with an iron hand since the coronation of Michael I Romanov in 1613.

The Romanovs: Glory and Fall of the Czars

2013

Monica Vitti, die Königin des italienischen Films poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Monica Vitti, die Königin des italienischen Films

2026

Hollywood's Second World War poster
8.0

For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.

Hollywood's Second World War

2019

Here’s Looking at You, Boy poster
5.2

Documentary on the history of gay and lesbian film.

Here’s Looking at You, Boy

2007

Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann und Lübeck poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann und Lübeck

2025

Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann und Lübeck poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann und Lübeck

2025

The Kennedy Dynasty poster
7.0

The story of a powerful political and economic dynasty, fundamental to understanding the turbulent destiny of the United States of America throughout the 20th century; of nine brothers who had truly extraordinary lives, marked by both greatness and tragedy: the story of the Kennedy family.

The Kennedy Dynasty

2023

The Kennedy Dynasty poster
7.0

The story of a powerful political and economic dynasty, fundamental to understanding the turbulent destiny of the United States of America throughout the 20th century; of nine brothers who had truly extraordinary lives, marked by both greatness and tragedy: the story of the Kennedy family.

The Kennedy Dynasty

2023

Hape Kerkeling – Total Normal poster
8.8

To mark the 60th birthday of the multi-talented comedian, singer and author Hape Kerkeling, the two documentary filmmakers André Schäfer and Eric Friedler have created a quiet, thoughtful and entertaining portrait of this often anarchic humorist. The film tells of his rapid rise as a teenager, his time and the blows of fate during the AIDS epidemic, the controversial forced outing, his confident exit from the show business and his new beginning. The film is a sensitive insight into the family history and a fast-paced journey through the career stages of a formative figure in German TV entertainment.

Hape Kerkeling – Total Normal

2024

Hape Kerkeling – Total Normal poster
8.8

To mark the 60th birthday of the multi-talented comedian, singer and author Hape Kerkeling, the two documentary filmmakers André Schäfer and Eric Friedler have created a quiet, thoughtful and entertaining portrait of this often anarchic humorist. The film tells of his rapid rise as a teenager, his time and the blows of fate during the AIDS epidemic, the controversial forced outing, his confident exit from the show business and his new beginning. The film is a sensitive insight into the family history and a fast-paced journey through the career stages of a formative figure in German TV entertainment.

Hape Kerkeling – Total Normal

2024

Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth. poster
6.0

This film is not a classic portrait but a documentary using fiction to bring Martin Suter’s novels to life while introducing us to the author behind the stories on a whole new level. ‘Fantasy is usually more true than reality itself’ says Suter.

Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth.

2022

Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth. poster
6.0

This film is not a classic portrait but a documentary using fiction to bring Martin Suter’s novels to life while introducing us to the author behind the stories on a whole new level. ‘Fantasy is usually more true than reality itself’ says Suter.

Everything About Martin Suter. Everything but the Truth.

2022

Who's Afraid of Jewish Humour? poster
NR

In this new documentary, filmmakers Jascha Hannover and Arkadij Khaet set out to explore the origins of Jewish humour, tracing the use of irony and satire.

Who's Afraid of Jewish Humour?

2021

Jane Austen - Literature and Passion poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Jane Austen - Literature and Passion

2025

Jane Austen - Literature and Passion poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Jane Austen - Literature and Passion

2025

Willy Brandt - Erinnerungen an ein Politikerleben poster
NR

As Governing Mayor of West Berlin, as Foreign Minister of a grand coalition, as Chancellor of the Bonn Republic and as SPD Chairman for many years, Willy Brandt played a decisive role in shaping German and European post-war history. He helped shape German society in the 1960s and 1970s and gave political life a new direction. The documentary shows important stages of his life and gives him himself - in archive footage - as well as many friends and political companions a chance to have their say.

Willy Brandt - Erinnerungen an ein Politikerleben

2013

Der Vierwaldstättersee: Blaues Juwel der Schweiz poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Der Vierwaldstättersee: Blaues Juwel der Schweiz

2023

The Wikipedia Promise poster
6.7

In 2001, Jimmy Wales published the first article on Wikipedia, a collaborative effort that began with a promise: to democratize the spreading of knowledge, monopolized by the elites for centuries. But is Wikipedia really a utopia come true?

The Wikipedia Promise

2021

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder poster
7.3

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

2017

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder poster
7.3

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

2017

The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann's Emblematic Novel poster
5.5

An analysis of The Magic Mountain, a novel by the German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955), published in November 1924.

The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann's Emblematic Novel

2024

The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann's Emblematic Novel poster
5.5

An analysis of The Magic Mountain, a novel by the German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955), published in November 1924.

The Magic Mountain: Thomas Mann's Emblematic Novel

2024

Omar Sharif: Citizen of the World poster
6.8

Several high-budget epic films became Omar Sharif (1932-2015) a film star. He was an actor, but also a bridge player, a womanizer, a bon vivant; he was a man full of contradictions, who enjoyed card games more than movies; he was an eternal nomad who spent half his life in a hotel.

Omar Sharif: Citizen of the World

2020

Nürburgring - 100 Jahre grüne Hölle poster
9.0

Race tracks are places of longing. But only the Nürburgring in the Eifel is truly spectacular and idyllic at the same time. Loved by fans, feared by drivers: Dozens of bends, many of them with illustrious names: Schwedenkreuz, Karussell, Fuchsröhre, Bergwerk, Brünnchen. To mark the 100th anniversary of the ground-breaking ceremony in 1925, this documentary tells the story of the ups and downs of the Nürburgring.

Nürburgring - 100 Jahre grüne Hölle

2025

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf poster
4.0

The extraordinary story of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), creator of Nils Holgersson, a memorable and legendary literary character, and the first female storyteller to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1909); a woman as pioneering in her life as in her remarkable work.

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf

2020

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf poster
4.0

The extraordinary story of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), creator of Nils Holgersson, a memorable and legendary literary character, and the first female storyteller to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1909); a woman as pioneering in her life as in her remarkable work.

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf

2020

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf poster
4.0

The extraordinary story of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), creator of Nils Holgersson, a memorable and legendary literary character, and the first female storyteller to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1909); a woman as pioneering in her life as in her remarkable work.

The Wonderful Journey of Selma Lagerlöf

2020

You'll Never Walk Alone poster
7.0

Documentary about the song “You'll Never Walk Alone,” the most famous sports anthem of the world.

You'll Never Walk Alone

2017

My Name Is Fleming, Ian Fleming poster
4.7

The man who invented James Bond: The story of Ian Fleming, real-life spy, ladies' man and sportsman, who was there at the birth of MI-5 and the CIA, and gave the world one of its most enduring and iconic heroes: Bond. James Bond.

My Name Is Fleming, Ian Fleming

2015

The World According to Irving poster
6.7

John Irving's literary worlds are satirically exaggerated, socially critical, unexpectedly magical. But how do these dazzling, sometimes bizarre, narrative worlds emerge? A unique insight into his writing workshop and a search of the places and people who have become part of his stories.

The World According to Irving

2012

Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime poster
7.2

British author Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is the world's most translated author: her heroes, private detective Hercule Poirot and amateur sleuth Miss Marple, are known the world over. But who is the woman behind her bestsellers? A biographical search for clues, the unraveling of an iridescent personality whose existence and works were shaped by the tragic history of the 20th century: the eventful life of the Queen of Crime.

Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime

2018