DENNIS GANSEL
Dennis Gansel, born in Hannover in 1973, started shooting his first TV movie THE PHANTOM when he was still a student at Munich film school HFF. It won him a Grimme Prize 2001 and the Audience Award at the Baden-Baden festival. He followed it up with comedy GIRLS ON TOP (2001) starring Diana Amft, Felicitas Woll and Karoline Herfurth. THE DOWNFALL (2004, also co-script) starring Max Riemelt and Tom Schilling won him the Bavarian Film Prize for Best Director. It also won awards in Fajr, the Hamptons and Viareggio. His drama THE WAVE (2008, also co-script) starring Jürgen Vogel earned a Jupiter Award for Best Director, the German Film Prize in Bronze, the Script Prize in Torino and the Special Jury Prize in Istanbul, and was screened at Sundance. His modern vampire movie WE ARE THE NIGHT (2010, also co-script) starring Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, Anna Fischer and Max Riemelt, won the Special Jury Prize at the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges. In 2012, he shot thriller THE FOURTH ESTATE (also co-script) starring Moritz Bleibtreu and Max Riemelt. In 2016, Dennis Gansel shot his first major Hollywood film, action hit sequel MECHANIC: RESURRECTION starring Jason Statham, Tommy Lee Jones and Jessica Alba.

Director's statement
Jim Button is the novel of my childhood. The first novel which inspired me so much that I wanted to become a storyteller myself. It has been a magical journey to bring Michael Ende’s classic tale to the big screen and I am so proud to share this movie now with the world.