Biography
Andreas Hartmann was born in 1983 in Paderborn. In 2006, he began studying for a diploma in cinematography at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (HFF) 'Konrad Wolf' in Potsdam-Babelsberg (now: Filmuniversität Babelsberg). As a DAAD scholar, he directed the feature-length documentary "Days of Rain" (2009) in Vietnam, which follows a 13-year-old boy and his family as they are forced to relocate due to the flooding of their village. The film was screened at several notable festivals, including Cinéma du Réel at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Duisburger Filmwoche. In 2011, the film was also shown at the Vientianale International Film Festival in Vientiane, Laos, accompanied by a photo exhibition by Andreas Hartmann ("Days of Rain – When a Film Comes Home").
Hartmann completed his diploma as the cinematographer for the feature film "Little Thirteen" (2012, directed by Christian Klandt), which was shown at several international film festivals and made it into the preliminary selection for the German Film Award nominations in 2013.
He then moved to the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin, where he became a master student of Prof. Thomas Arslan in the Art and Media Department. Once again as a DAAD scholar, Hartmann directed the documentary "My Buddha is Punk" (2015) in Burma, about a Burmese punk musician who, along with his band, advocates for human rights and fights against discrimination. Hartmann took on multiple roles for the film, serving as director, cinematographer, editor, and producer. "My Buddha is Punk" was featured at numerous international festivals, including Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, the Bangkok Underground Film Festival (where it won the Audience Award), and the Achtung Berlin Festival.
In 2014, Hartmann was a Villa Aurora Fellow in Tokyo, where he worked on the documentary project "A Free Man" (broadcast in 2017), created for Tv broadcaster ZDF/3sat. Once again, he took on the roles of director, writer, cinematographer, editor, and producer. The film tells the story of a young Japanese man with a passion for the arts, who chooses to live as a homeless person as a form of resistance against Japanese society's pressure to succeed. "A Free Man" won Best Documentary at the Busan International Film Festival (South Korea), the Ciudad de México International Film Festival, and the Independent Film Awards in Chile. In 2018, Hartmann was an Artist-in-Residence at the Tokyo Arts and Space International Creator Residency Program.
In addition to his film projects, Andreas Hartmann has worked as a live cinematographer for theatre productions by Katie Mitchell since his studies, including her productions of "Miss Julie" (Schaubühne Berlin, 2010), "The Piano Teacher" (Burgtheater Vienna, 2014), and "Orlando" (Schaubühne, 2019). He also served as a camera and sound operator for Jonas Rothlaender's documentary "Das starke Geschlecht" ("The Stronger Sex," 2021).
In 2023, together with Japanese filmmaker Arata Mori, Hartmann began work on the feature-length documentary "Johatsu - Die sich in Luft auflösen," ("Johatsu - Into Thin Air") about people in Japan who use professional agencies to disappear from their previous lives. In 2024, "Johatsu - Die sich in Luft auflösen" won the top prize for Best Documentary at the DOK.fest Munich. The film's German theatrical release took place in November 2024.