Movies by Jan Schmidt-Garre

Fuoco sacro – Suche nach dem heiligen Feuer des Gesangs

Fuoco sacro – Suche nach dem heiligen Feuer des Gesangs

What drives men and women to risk their own lives to save those of others? Fuoco Sacro tells the story of the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire department, and does it through the voices of the people who, over half a century of history, have tackled with competence and a spirit of self-sacrifice the greatest calamities that Italy has tragically had to experience at firsthand.

Celibidache: You Don't do Anything, You Let it Evolve

Celibidache: You Don't do Anything, You Let it Evolve

A feature length portrait of conductor Sergiu Celibidache; four years in the making, director Jan Schmidt-Garre collaborated closely with the musical director of the Munich Philharmonic.

This Not That: The Artist John Baldessari

This Not That: The Artist John Baldessari

John Baldessari is one of the pioneers of conceptual art, which revolutionized contemporary art in the 1960s, and is still a profound influence on young artists today. The film shows John Baldessari in all aspects of his work: as an artist in his studio, with the technicians he collaborates with, as a teacher interacting with his students, as a passionate observer of the contemporary scene and visiting the Biennale in Venice as well as the Basel Art Fair. This film provides us with insights into the work of a radically modern-thinking artis...

Opera Fanatic: Stefan & the Divas

Opera Fanatic: Stefan & the Divas

Stefan Zucker, the world's highest tenor, visits the opera divas of his childhood. The journey from apartment to apartment, from diva to diva, from Rome to Milan, turns into an opera road movie.

Sophia: Biography of a Violin Concerto

Sophia: Biography of a Violin Concerto

Russian-born composer Sofia Gubaidulina entered the international spotlight at a relatively late age, when the 49-year-old came forward with her premier violin concerto, "Offertorium," in 1980. Gubaidulina authored that piece for Gideon Kremer. Curiously, it would be another 12 years before Gubaidulina received a commission (from Paul Sacher) to author her second violin concerto, and another 15 years after that until the notes fell on ears ripe with anticipation. For the debut of the "Second Violin Concerto," Gubaidulina insisted that no one...