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exground filmfest’s first ever homage is dedicated to the body of work of internationally acclaimed director, script writer and actor Ulli Lommel, from which we picked eight films. Lommel was born on December 21, 1944, in Zielenzig in today’s Polish voivodeship Lebus and stood on a stage for the first time aged four. Because his actor parents were on tour frequently and relocated every three years, he went to twelve different schools and received a scholarship from the UFA school for new talent in Berlin in 1960. It was there that he debuted in 1961 at the Renaissance theatre. He then played with Maria Schell, Miriam Hopkins, Hildegard Knef and Heinz Rühmann. At the end of the 1960s he got to know Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 21 productions between 1969 and 1977. Fassbinder gave him the lead in LIEBE IST KÄLTER ALS DER TOD – a masterpiece, which is also part of the homage. Representing Lommel’s directorial work from this era, we present DIE ZÄRTLICHKEIT DER WÖLFE (TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES), starring Kurt Raab as killer of young boys Fritz Haarmann, as well as the Hitler grotesqueness ADOLF UND MARLENE. In 1977, Lommel moved to the USA, where he met Andy Warhol, who produced two cult movies for him and also starred in cameo appearances: BLANK GENERATION with the enchanting Carole Bouquet, which opens the homage in the presence of the artist, and COCAINE COWBOYS starring Hollywood veteran Jack Palance. Also in the program: horror film THE BOOGEYMAN, Lommel’s biggest commercial success in the USA, THE DEVONSVILLE TERROR, a shocker from 1980 starring Donald Pleasence, and DANIEL – DER ZAUBERER (DANIEL THE WIZARD), a tumultuous docu-drama starring Daniel Küblböck. In addition, Ulli Lommel, who has been living in the Hollywood hills since 1980, will read from his autobiography ZÄRTLICHKEIT DER WÖLFE – BEGEGNUNGEN, in the course of the homage. |
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