An accomplished filmmaker in many arenas, Robert Dornhelm's talents have been seen on display in several media of late. A former Motion Picture Academy nominee, Dornhelm wrapped filming "The Amanda Knox Story" in Rome. Starring Hayden Panettiere, this is the latest of his films to be shot in Europe, but Dornhelm's subjects have been varied and eclectic: 2010's 'La Boheme' the feature film version of the great Puccini opera, starring Rolando Villazon and Anna Netrebko, is enjoying rave notices from its release theatrically in several different countries, including Russia, Austria, Germany and Greece, to 'Out Of Control' the dark tale of Udo Proksch, Austrian industrialist and criminal insurance con man, a convicted murderer whose protection by the then Austrian government lead to its eventual downfall. Another noir film 'Your Shadow Will Follow You' for ORF1 is his latest work for Austrian television.
Earlier work includes Dornhelm's epic 8 hour recreation of the Tolstoy epic 'War and Peace' for RAI and German TV as an eight part series in Italy, Lithuania, Germany and Russia. The film was made for Jan Mojto's EOS Productions. Preceding that he filmed the tragic story of Rudolph, heir to the doomed Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was filmed both as a feature film and as a two-part miniseries. 'The Crown Prince' returned Dornhelm to European filmmaking, shooting in Vienna, his adoptive home since 1960.
By winning broad acclaim not only for 2001's ABC's Emmy-winning mini-series 'Anne Frank' but also for his excellent F/X films 'Sins Of The Father' and 'RFK' Dornhelm established himself as a contemporary filmmaker of great range and versatility. While helming 'Spartacus' (which besides Goran Visnjic also featured the late Alan Bates and Rhona Mitra), Dornhelm skillfully managed a crew of 400 and a cast of 12,000 extras. His work brought him to the attention of Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG, who hired Dornhelm to shoot the first episode of their epic 12-hour limited series on TNT 'Into The West', an EMMY winning and multi-dimensional look at the settlement of the American West circa 1824-1892 as seen through the eyes of a pair of unique families. Beginning its airing in June 2005, the six films are the most expensive ever produced by TNT representing a $100,000,000 investment.
The three and a half hour 'Anne Frank' earned 11 Emmy nominations, and a win for Best Miniseries. Other nominees included Dornhelm, Hannah Taylor Gordon (in the title role), Brenda Blethyn (for best supporting actress), and Sir Ben Kingsley (who also won Best Actor at the 2002 SAG Awards for the role of Otto Frank). Dornhelm's biopic 'RFK', featuring a moving Linus Roache in the title role, received critical acclaim, as did both his CBS film 'Suburban Madness', made for executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and starring Sela Ward, Elisabeth Pena and Brett Cullen, and'Identity Theft' starring Annabella Sciorra and Kimberley Williams for Lifetime TV.
Born in the provincial Romanian city of Timisoara and raised after age 13 in Vienna, Austria, Dornhelm began his directing career as a prolific documentary filmmaker in his adoptive country. The first works to receive widespread international attention include the Academy Award nominee 'The Children Of Theatre St' about the young students of the Kirov Ballet, and the strikingly original 'She Dances Alone', the story of Nijinska, daughter of the legendary Nijinsky, both of which were selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Dornhelm's bittersweet comedy 'Echo Park', set in the quirky LA neighborhood of the same name and starring Tom Hulce, and Susan Dey, marked his transition into fictional filmmaking. From there, Avenue Pictures hired him to direct the Tom Waits, Bill Pullman starrer 'Cold Feet'. Next, he returned to his native Romania to shoot the ruggedly authentic docudrama 'Requiem For Dominic', a Golden Globe nominee for best foreign film and Austria's Official Selection to the 1991 Academy Awards.
In 1992, NBC & Warner Bros. engaged him to direct 'Fatal Deception: Marina's'Story' for which Helena Bonham Carter,in the title role, also received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1995, 'The Break', his tautly absorbing political thriller superbly acted by Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleason and Alfred Molina opened the Dublin International Film Festival. The following year he directed 'The Unfish', an adult fairy tale and Austria's official selection to The Academy Awards for best foreign language film in 1996.
Lauren Bacall and Dennis Hopper starred in another quirky Dornhelm comedy, 'The Venice Project', which appropriately was selected for competition in the Venice Film Festival in 1999. Just prior to helming 'Anne Frank' for ABC, Robert filmed the highly controversial performance of Sir Simon Rattle's Beethoven's 9th at the site of the Mauthausen concentration Camp.
Robert Dornhelm lives with his wife Lynn between his home in Malibu CA and a residence in Vienna .
For a printable version (PDF) of all of Robert's credits, please click here.