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All Pictures (2)Biography
Lothar Herzog, born in Freiburg im Breisgau, grew up in Paris and studied Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Practice in Hildesheim and San Francisco. He gained experience as an actor in theater productions and with the realization of video installations for theater productions and concerts.
In 2005 Herzog began studying directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb), among others with Hartmut Bitomsky. He made various short films that screened at international festivals; for example, his 24-minute short film "weisst du eigentlich dass ganz viele blumen blühen im park" ("You Know the Park Is Filled with Flowers") was shown at the 2011 Berlinale in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section.
In 2017, Lothar Herzog began work on his feature film debut "1986," which was also his dffb graduation film. The drama about a student in Minsk who regularly has to travel to the restricted zone of Chernobyl for illegal business celebrated its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival 2019. At the Hof Film Festival, Herzog won the Hof Gold Award for Best Director; at the First Steps Awards, "1986" received the No Fear Award for Best Production; and at the 2020 Achtung Berlin Festival, it won the Best Cinematography Award. Due to the Corona pandemic, the film was not more widely theatrically released until late summer 2021.
In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Lothar Herzog leads film workshops and seminars on the topics of art, culture and politics. He also offers online courses on filmmaking and applying to film school.