Dani Levy | WatchedThis
Dani Levy
Acting
Biography
Dani Levy (born 17 November 1957) is a Swiss filmmaker, theatrical director, screenwriter and actor. Levy was born to a Jewish family in Switzerland in 1957. His mother was a Holocaust survivor. He moved to Berlin in the 1980s. Levy's films include 'RobbyKallePaul', 'I Was on Mars', 'Meschugge', 'Du mich auch' and 'Väter'. 'Väter' starred Christiane Paul. In 2004, he directed 'Alles auf Zucker!', a comedy about a secularised Jew from the former GDR who has to reconcile himself with his Orthodox brother. In 2007, he directed the comedy-drama 'Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler', about a Jewish actor hired to enliven Adolf Hitler's speeches during the final days of World War II, starring German comedian Helge Schneider. It was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. Levy said he was influenced by the theory of Swiss-based psychologist Alice Miller, published in 1980, that something must have gone wrong with Hitler in his childhood. His 1995 film 'Stille Nacht' won an Honourable Mention at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival. He is one of the founders of the German company X Filme Creative Pool. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dani Levy, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Replay
Nathalie and Louise are friends from childhood. While studying drama at University Louise becomes hopelessly obsessed with her friend. Jealous of the male friends she has she breaks up the friendship, followed by a suicide attempt. Later, Louise marries, but finds time to see the, by now quite accomplished actress, Nathalie. They fight through the years, La Repetition following them as their friendship comes together and breaks up frequently, while never actually reaching anything that can be called a climax.
The Giraffe
Lena Katz, who is German, and David Fish, who is American, are Jews who live in New York. When Lena's mother, who arrives from Germany, meets her at a hotel, she finds an almost-dead woman lying on the hotel floor. She accompanies the injured woman to the hospital and meets David, who is the woman's son. After David's mother dies from the injuries, a question remains: was she murdered? The trail leads to Germany. Apparently, Lena's mother has some kind of relationship with David's mother that reaches back into the dark German history of the 1940s
I Was on Mars
Silva fulfills herself a dream: from Poland she flies to USA. With only a few hundred dollars she arrives in New York, incapable of the language. Not long until the charming swindler Avi steals all her money - but she doesn't give up: She hunts him down, follows him around, demanding her money back.
Burning Life
Anna and Lisa, two young women, meet by chance in the vestibule of a bank, and decide after that to go on together leaving a successful trail of bank-robberies through Germany.
Without Me
An aspiring documentary filmmaker named Simon Rosenthal tries to get some attention for his film about skinheads versus Turkish immigrants. However, as a Jewish man in today's Germany, his fears for the future prompt him to move to the moon.
Aimée & Jaguar
In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women – one a Jewish member of the underground, the other an exemplar of Nazi motherhood.
Half the World
The sun blazes down from the sky with destructive power; exposing oneself to its light means death. People have transposed everyday existence to the night. In the metropolis of HALF WORLD a culture based on various languages and lifeforms has grown rampant. Everyone is looking for a way to survive.
Hausmänner
Two stay-at-home dads who meet at the playground realize that their daily routine is stifling their creative talents. Without telling their wives, they organize a service that connects retired women with families in need of babysitters. The business is so successful that it quickly becomes too much for them to handle.
The Meds
A tragi-comedy telling the story of the adventures of Robin, Anna, Jost and Leo - the meds - who want to be anything but healthy, happy and mediocre. They all live in a large city in West-Germany and are "Westies" to the core. Precocious, disillusioned, morally eroded, politically bored and sexually sated. Always on the run from the next compromise, they are big kids caught up in their mid-twenties crisis. One day in the midst of all this depression the suspicion arises that one of them is in fact a closet "Eastie", a liar and betrayer, an undercover agent, a neo-Nazi or at least a Stalinist...
Production
Go for Zucker
Germany director Dani Levy filmed this comedy about Jewish life in today’s Germany along side the familiar east-west conflict. With it great success this film is a joyful comedy of humor and knowledge.
Go for Zucker
Germany director Dani Levy filmed this comedy about Jewish life in today’s Germany along side the familiar east-west conflict. With it great success this film is a joyful comedy of humor and knowledge.
My Führer
Hitler no longer believes in himself, and can barely see himself as an equal to even his sheep dog. But to seize the helm of the war he would have to create one of his famous fiery speeches to mobilize the masses. Goebbels therefore brings a Jewish acting teacher Grünbaum and his family from the camps in order to train the leader in rhetoric. Grünbaum is torn, but starts Hitler in his therapy ...
My Führer
Hitler no longer believes in himself, and can barely see himself as an equal to even his sheep dog. But to seize the helm of the war he would have to create one of his famous fiery speeches to mobilize the masses. Goebbels therefore brings a Jewish acting teacher Grünbaum and his family from the camps in order to train the leader in rhetoric. Grünbaum is torn, but starts Hitler in his therapy ...
Silent Night
Sensing their relationship is crumbling, Christian avoids celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend Julia and heads for Paris.
Silent Night
Sensing their relationship is crumbling, Christian avoids celebrating Christmas with his girlfriend Julia and heads for Paris.
The Giraffe
Lena Katz, who is German, and David Fish, who is American, are Jews who live in New York. When Lena's mother, who arrives from Germany, meets her at a hotel, she finds an almost-dead woman lying on the hotel floor. She accompanies the injured woman to the hospital and meets David, who is the woman's son. After David's mother dies from the injuries, a question remains: was she murdered? The trail leads to Germany. Apparently, Lena's mother has some kind of relationship with David's mother that reaches back into the dark German history of the 1940s
Life Is Too Long
No crisis is as disastrous, overwhelming and unjust as that of Alfi Seliger. The Jewish filmmaker, hypochondriac and family man is up to his neck in problems: his pubescent children Romy and Alain find him ridiculous, his wife Helena would be happy if she only found him ridiculous, his bank is going bankrupt and his new film project is finding it difficult to meet with approval. Friend becomes foe, hope becomes paranoia and when even his psychiatrist advises him to end his life, Alfi Seliger attempts a theatrical exit. But as befits a born "Nebbich", a lovable loser, even this fails - he survives and only appears to awaken in his old life...
Germany ’09 – 13 Short Films About the State of the Nation
Thirteen German directors present short films exploring the state of their country.
I'm The Father
Marco and Melanie, a young married couple, are living a life of passion, chaos, and all the little frustrations of everyday existence. Their love for each other seems like a beacon on heavy seas. But career pressure, burned toast, and dirty laundry are eroding all tenderness, and they never seem to find enough time for their six-year-old son, Benny, either. Their world is about to fall apart when Melanie moves out, taking Benny with her. She files for divorce, and Marco makes a decision that is not only going to change his own life. He suddenly discovers his own unique way of being a father … I’m the Father is a modern portrait of a generation which appears to fail its own ambitions: After all, how do you combine a job, children, love and all the other challenges of everyday life – without giving yourself up in the process? And then what happens when positions become entrenched and a divorce seems inevitable?
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