Caroline Link
Link (2020)
Born (1964-06-02) 2 June 1964
Bad Nauheim, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Occupation(s)Film director
Screenwriter

Caroline Link (born 2 June 1964) is a German TV and film director and screenwriter.[1]

She is best known for directing critically acclaimed Beyond Silence, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film,[2] and for directing Nowhere in Africa, which won an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[3] and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.[4] [5]

Life and work

Caroline Link is the daughter of Jürgen and Ilse Link. From 1986 to 1990 she studied at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), and then worked as an assistant director and script writer.

Link's early work includes the short film Bunte Blumen, from 1988. She was a co-director on the documentary film Das Glück zum Anfassen (1989). For Bavaria Film, she wrote two screenplays to the detective series Der Fahnder (The Investigators).

Caroline Link grew up in a small town outside of Frankfurt, Germany in 1968. Despite her family giving her a strong moral compass, they were a "non intellectual and non artistic family." Link first became interested in pursuing filmmaking after being a nanny in America, when she came back to Germany she was working on set as an extra and engaged with a camera man. She thought it would be an interesting profession, she recognized that being a camera women was going to be hard but after studying what they did on set as an extra she was able to get herself an internship in the film industry. Link enjoyed working in the film industry but wanted the ability to create and express her politics.[6][7]

Link's first feature film, Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence, 1996) was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film,[8] and attracted attention for its portrayal of a family with deaf parents.[9] Her second feature film was Annaluise and Anton (1999), based on a novel by Erich Kästner. Her third feature film, Nirgendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa, 2001), adapted by Link from the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig and shot on location in Kenya,[10] received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well winning the German Film Award (Deutscher Filmpreis) in five categories, including Best Fiction Film.

Beyond Silence

Beyond Silence was Link's first break through, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and brought her global recognition. Beyond Silence illustrates the struggles of the main character Lara, a child of deaf adults (CODA), among communicating with her deaf parents Martin and Kai. Link uses the theme of silence in her story as an allegory for censorship, generational trauma and oppression in the heart of Germany society. " This isn’t really a movie about deafness, Beyond Silence. It’s about deafness on the surface, of course, but the emotional substance is about communication in a family. I always try to speak about a universal emotion that most viewers will know and understand. So with Beyond Silence, I knew I wanted to make a movie about a father and a daughter – a daughter who loves her father very much but who feels drawn to a completely different world. This I knew from my own life, and this is what I wanted to write about before I knew I’d make a movie about a deaf family."[11]

“Women tend to worry a lot about their perception. We want to be nice people. But it’s not always possible to be calm, sweet and understanding when you are in a leading position or if you really try to get something that you need for your creative idea. I had to learn, that it is ok for a woman to WANT something, to be the boss and to sometimes even be aggressive”.

Personal life

Link lives with her partner, the film director Dominik Graf, and their daughter, who was born in 2002.

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
2019 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Director [12]
2018 All About Me Director
2013 Exit Marrakech Director [13]
2008 A Year Ago in Winter Director [14]
2001 Nowhere in Africa Director
1999 Annaluise & Anton Director
1996 Beyond Silence Director [15][16]
1990 Sommertage
1989 Glück zum Anfassen
1988 Bunte Blumen

TV

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Kalle der Träumer
1985 Der Fahnder

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Notes
2019 German Film Award Most Popular German Film Of The Year All About Me Won [17][18]
2003 Golden Globe Awards Best Foreign Language Film Nowhere in Africa Nominated [4]
2002 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film Won [3]
1998 Bavarian Film Award Best Young People's Film Won [19]
1997 Academy Awards Best International Feature Film Beyond Silence Nominated [2]
1997 Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix Won
1996 Bavarian Film Award Best New Director Won [19]

Further reading

  • Glasenapp, Jörn; Koebner, Thomas; Krützen, Michaela; Liptay, Fabienne; Wende, Johannes; edition text + kritik (2016). Caroline Link. München. ISBN 978-3-86916-482-3. OCLC 934149576.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ↑ "Caroline Link". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Academy Awards Database Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Academy Awards Database Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Nowhere In Africa". Golden Globes. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Over 800 German and Austrian Film Industry Professionals Sign Letter Against Antisemitism: 'We Stand Unreservedly in Solidarity With All Jews'". Variety.
  6. ↑ Goethe-Institut Toronto, Goethe Film Talk: Caroline Link, archived from the original on 17 December 2021, retrieved 10 December 2018
  7. ↑ "TIFF Women Directors: Meet Caroline Link". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  8. ↑ "The 70th Academy Awards (1998) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Dinitia Smith (11 June 1998). "Families Joined or Divided by Silence; Film Shed Light on Emotional Issues of the Deaf". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  10. ↑ Stefanie Zweig (23 February 2003). "Strangers in a Strange Land". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  11. ↑ "Diva Directors Around the Globe: Spotlight on Caroline Link". Film International. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. ↑ Lodge, Guy (20 May 2021). "'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' Review: Judith Kerr's Childhood Classic Gets Faithful, Tasteful Screen Treatment". Variety. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (12 September 2013). "Toronto: Director Caroline Link Takes Journey to 'Marrakech'". Variety. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  14. ↑ Holden, Stephen (5 January 2010). "Death of a Golden Boy Ripples Through a Family". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  15. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (5 June 1998). "'Beyond Silence' Is Touching Look at Family". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  16. ↑ Holden, Stephen (5 June 1998). "FILM REVIEW; Torn Between Music and the Deaf". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "Der Deutsche Filmpreis 2019: Alles zur Verleihung am 3. Mai • Deutscher Filmpreis". Deutscher Filmpreis (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  18. ↑ ""Der Junge muss an die frische Luft" erhält die Lola als besucherstärkster Film • Deutscher Filmpreis". Deutscher Filmpreis (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Bavarian Film Prize - Previous Award Winners" (PDF). 19 August 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
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