Percy Adlon

Percy Adlon (born June 1 1935 in Munich, Germany) is a German film and television director, writer, and producer.

Biography

Percy Adlon is best known for his film "Bagdad Café" aka "Out of Rosenheim". He was born in Munich, June 1, 1935, and grew up in Ammerland/Starnberger See, in the Bavarian countryside. He studied art and theater history, and German literature at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilian University, took acting and singing classes, and was a member of the student theater group. He started his professional career as an actor, became interested in radio work, was a narrator and editor of literature series and a presenter and voice-over actor in television for 10 years.

In 1970 he made his first short film for Bavarian Television, followed by more than 150 documentary films about art and the human condition. His first one-hour portrait "Tomi Ungerer’s Landleben" started a very successful co-operation with Benigna von Keyserlingk who became the Adlon’s television producer of documentaries and feature films.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon formed their film production company, pelemele FILM GmbH, in 1978. Their first project was the docu-drama "The Guardian and his Poet" about the Swiss poet Robert Walser for which they won 2 Adolf-Grimme Awards in Gold (best writer/director, best actor). Their first feature film "Céleste", drew international attention at Cannes in 1981. "Bagdad Cafe", 1987, started their co-operation with Dietrich v. Watzdorf (Bayerischer Rundfunk) The story of Jasmin Münchgstettner and the Café owner Brenda became a symbol of friendship and warmth, and is loved all over the globe. Marianne Sägebrecht whom Percy Adlon discovered in 1979 became a cult figure, and Bob Telson’s song "Calling You" a classic.

In 1997 Percy Adlon started working with a digital camera. He filmed a three hour special about the draftsman Tomi Ungerer for ARTE, Mozart’s "Magic Flute" with images of today’s Berlin, Die Straußkiste/ Forever Flirt, 22 short films based on unknown masterpieces by Johann Strauss, Jr., a 90 minute film about his past and present relationship with his hometown Munich, "Mein München", and in 2001, he completed his tenth feature film "HAWAiiAN GARDENS", a Californian-Bavarian story, starring André Eisermann and Valeria Hernandez.

In 2001/02, Percy Adlon made the documenatry Koening's Sphere, about the monumental sculpter that survived when the Twin Tower in New York fell. In 2003, the Adlon's created a stage version of Bagdad Cafe, which premiered in Barcelona in 2004, toured in France in 2005 and 2006, and played in Theatre Mogador in Paris, France in 2006.

In 2007, the Adlon's traveled to N'gorongoro, Tanzania three times to film their new two hour documentary "Orbela's People" about an extended Maasai family.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon believe in film as an art form. The new possibilities for truly independent filmmaking are most fascinating to them. They believe that only films that are made without any commercial speculations can create innovations for cinema. They are proud to be independent filmmakers who write, direct, produce and own their own work.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon live in Pacific Palisades, California, working together with their son Felix whose first feature film "Eat Your Heart Out" (1997) they produced with their US company Leora Films. Felix was also the lead in the Adlons’ docu-fantasy "The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel".

Percy and Eleonore Adlon have won numerous awards, including top honors in Rio de Janeiro for "Bagdad Cafe", and in Montreal for "Salmonberries", two Césars, the Ernst-Lubitsch-Award, the Swedish and the Danish Academy awards, the Prix Humanum, Belgium, prizes in Venice, Chicago, Valladolid, Brussels, Tokyo as well as Bavarian and German Federal Film Awards, among others.

Percy Adlon is the recipient of the Officer’s Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany, and a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Awards

*1982 Bavarian Film Award, Best Director
*1987 Bavarian Film Award, Best Screenplay
*1991 Bavarian Film Award, Best Director [http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf]

Filmography

* Orbela's People (2007)
* Bagdad Cafe - The Musical (2003 - 2006) Director
* Wolkenstein (2004) A new opera by Wilfried Hiller and Felix Mitterer, directed by Percy Adlon. Premiere at the State Opera Nürnberg.
* Elisir D’Amore (2003) opera by Gaetano Donizetti, directed by Percy Adlon for the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden
* Koenig's Sphere (2001) Director ... aka Koenigs Kugel (German title)
* Hawaiian Gardens (2001) Director, Writer
* Straußkiste, Die (1999) Director, Writer Cinematographer ... aka Forever Flirt (International: English title)
* Eat Your Heart Out (1997) Producer
* In der glanzvollen Welt des Hotel Adlon (1996) (TV) Director ... aka Hotel Adlon (Germany: short title) "Bavarian Television Award"
* Younger and Younger (1993) Director, Writer, Producer. "Special Prize of the Jury, Brussels. Best Actress IFF Tokyo Lolita Davidovich."
* Salmonberries (1991) Director, Writer ... aka Percy Adlon's Salmonberries (Germany: poster title) "Grand Prix des Ameriques, Montreal. Bavarian Film Awards for director P.A. and for Rosel Zech, Best Actress."
* Red Hot and Blue (1990) (TV) Director
* Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989) Director, Writer, Producer "Official German Entry, Cannes. Best Film - Section “Cinema & Denaro”, IFF EuropaCinema & TV, Viareggio."
* Babycakes (1989) (TV) Writer (screenplay Zuckerbaby)
* Out of Rosenheim aka Bagdad Cafe (USA) (1987) Director, Writer, Producer " Grand Prix IFF Rio de Janeiro, César, best foreign Film (French FIlm Award), Ernst-Lubitsch-Award (Director), Swedish and Danish Film Academies, Bavarian Film Award (original screenplay)Prix Humanum, Belgium."
* Herschel und die Musik der Sterne (1986) (TV) Director, Writer
* Zuckerbaby (1985) Director, Writer ... aka Sugarbaby "Ernst-Lubitsch-Award for Marianne Sägebrecht"
* Schaukel, Die (1983) Director, Writer ... aka The Swing
* Fünf letzte Tage (1982) Director ... aka Last Five Days ... aka The Five Last Days "German Federal Film Award, Bavarian Film Award, OCIC-Prize, IFF Venice, 1982"

* Céleste (1981) Director, "Writer Special Jury Award IFF Chicago"
* Herr Kischott (1980) (TV) Director
* Vormund und sein Dichter, Der (1978) (TV) Director, Writer (written by), Producer ... aka The Guardian and His Poet (USA) "Adolf Grimme Award in Gold"

External links

*imdb name|id=0000727|name=Percy Adlon
* [http://www.percyadlon.com percyadlon.com Official Website]
*cite web | title=About filmmaker Percy Adlon | work= | url=http://www.percyadlon.com/resume/long_biography.html | accessmonthday = February| accessyear=2005 Author grants public domain use.
* [http://www.sundancechannel.com/popup/index.php?ixFilmID=1103 sundancechannel.com - BAGDAD CAFE]
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=79084 New York Times - Percy Adlon]