Dennis Gansel

Born 1973, Hanover. He studied in the film and telefilm section of the Academy of Television & Film (Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film) in Munich. He first attracted the public’s attention with a number of short films (THE WRONG TRIP, 1995; LIVING DEAD, 1996; IM AUFTRAG DES HERRN, 1997) and made his feature film debut with THE PHANTOM (2000). It was awarded the Adolf Grimme Prize. Gansel scored his first theatrical hit with GIRLS ON TOP (MAEDCHEN MAEDCHEN, 2001), seen by 1,8 million viewers in Germany. NAPOLA is his second joint scriptwriting project with Maggie Peren after THE PHANTOM. Together with his co-author, he won the German Film Prize 2003 for the best script yet to be produced.

Director’s statement

“I first came into contact with the Nazis’ special schools through my grandfather Fritz Gansel, who was an instructor at the Reichskriegsschule Hannover in 1940 at the age of 24. He told me about drill methods and hard military training, but also about the camaraderie which he continued to cultivate with many former cadets until his death”.