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Florian Opitz, born in 1973 in Saarbrücken, studied History and Psychology as well as English and American literature. Since 1999, he has been working as a director of documentary films for several TV broadcasters. Most of his works deal with political or societal issues, such as "Tibet – Mythos und Wirklichkeit" (2001) or "Die Araber – Geschichte eines Feindbildes" (2003). His feature film debut was the documentary film "Der große Ausverkauf" ("The Big Sellout", 2007), which examines the consequences of privatization. That same year, Opitz and his cameraman Andy Lehmann got arrested and charged with conspiracy and espionage while shooting a documentary in Warri, Nigeria – supposedly, in order to put pressure on the government-critical NGO with whom they were collaborating. It took two months of diplomatic and political negotiations before Opitz and Lehman were released and allowed to leave the country. The planned documentary film was never completed.
In 2009, Opitz directed a segment of the project "24 h Berlin - Ein Tag im Leben" ("24 Hours Berlin") and he received the renowned Grimme Preis for "Der große Ausverkauf". Opitz’ next documentary feature "Speed - Auf der Suche nach der verlorenen Zeit" ("Speed: In Search of Lost Time") about the increasing acceleration of all aspects of life, premiered at the film festival Max Ophüls Preis in early 2012. Opitz went on to realise two documentaries for public broadcaster ARD: "Geheimnis Villa Hügel" about the former estate of the renowned industrial family Krupp (2013) and "Akte D – Die Macht der Stromkonzerne" (2014), which won him another two Grimme Preise for screenplay and direction. In 2014/2015, he shot "System Error", a documentary about the absurdities of economic growth mania. The film, a TV co-production, was released in German theatres in May 2018.