born on December 25, 1943 in Katowice, Poland
German actor and singer
90th birthday on December 25, 2023
Biography
'If you could start your life over, would you become an actor again?' I used to say: 'Yes, why not!' Then: 'Who knows?' Finally: 'Most of all I would like to do something with music.' Why do I need a new life for that? Why not in this one? No sooner was the desire clear in me than chance brought the opportunity: ARTE asked if I would like to sing songs from the time of the First World War for a theme evening. The Frenchman Jean-Marie Sénia (film and theater composer) worked out the repertoire with me. At the end he said, 'I feel like composing for you. Bring me lyrics!'
Born in Katowice, Hanna Schygulla moved to Munich with her mother in 1945. After graduating from high school, she spent a year in Paris as an au pair. Starting in 1964 she studied French and German literature in Munich. She began taking acting lessons in 1966 and was introduced to action theater by Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1967. In 1970, she appeared for the first time under Fassbinder's direction in the film Liebe ist kälter als der Tod (Love is Colder than Death), which won the Bundesfilmpreis. In the years that followed, she appeared in almost all of Fassbinder's films and many of his stage productions.
Their collaboration experienced a temporary interruption following the joint box office success of Effi Briest in 1974. She worked with other directors for several years, and received the Bundesfilmpreis for the second time in 1975 for her performance in Wim Wenders' Falsche Bewegung (The Wrong Move).
In 1978 she resumed her collaboration with Fassbinder. Both of the two following films—The Marriage of Maria Braun (Bundesfilmpreis and Silver Bear) and Lili Marleen—were also well received internationally. Schygulla's acting is captivating; there is nothing star-like about her. True to the style of the young Fassbinder, she avoids playing out emotions. Indeed, she tends to an understatement that borders on exaggeration. Jean-Luc Godard made an almost ironic use of this quality in Passion (1982).
Hanna Schygulla starred under the direction of Ettore Scola, Carlos Saura, Andrej Wajda, Kenneth Branagh, Marco Ferreri, Margarethe von Trotta and Agnes Varda. She won the award for Best Actress at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Ferreri’s Story of Piera (Italian: Storia di Pierra). She also continued her theater career, with a permanent engagement at the Münchener Kammerspiele, a renowned studio theater in Munich.
The actor and singer Hanna Schygulla now lives in Paris.
Within the web of two cultures in which I, a wanderer between both worlds, am equally 'at home' or shall I say 'on the way'.
(Text from 2002, translated with DeepL.com; edited by Ramona Fararo, 2023.)
Please consult the German version for additional information (pictures, sources, videos, bibliography).
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