Michael Verhoeven

Michael Verhoeven (born 13 July 1938 in Berlin) is a German film director.

Life and work

Verhoeven is the son of German film director, Paul Verhoeven (not to be confused with the Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven). He married actress Senta Berger in 1966; their son is the actor-director Simon Verhoeven. Together, the couple have a production company to make films. The anti-Vietnam War film, o.k. was entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival, but led to a scandal that forced the collapse of the festival without the awarding of any prizes.

In 1982, Verhoeven released Die weiße Rose (The White Rose), which, with the Best Foreign film nomination of Das schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl) in 1990, cemented his reputation as an important political contributor to German film. Along with his films Mutters Courage (My Mother's Courage) and documentary Der unbekannte Soldat (The Unknown Soldier), they have been hailed as an unstinting examination of Germany's Nazi period. In 1992, he was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Awards

• 1990 Silver Bear for Best Director, 40th Berlin International Film Festival for The Nasty Girl
• 1995 Bavarian Film Awards, Best Production
• 2006 Bavarian Film Awards, Honorary Award

• "Berlinale: 1990 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 20 March 2011. 
• Bayerischer Filmpreis – "Pierrot"
• Ministerpräsident Stoiber verleiht Bayerischen Filmpreis 2006, press release (German)

Selected filmography

As actor

• The House in Montevideo (1963)

As director and writer

• Paarungen (de) (The Dance of Death) (1967)
• Engelchen macht weiter – hoppe, hoppe Reiter (de) (1969)
• Der Bettenstudent oder: Was mach’ ich mit den Mädchen? (de) (1970)
• o.k. (1970)
• He Who Loves in a Glass House (1971)
• MitGift (de) (1976)
• Sonntagskinder (1980)
• Die weiße Rose (1982)
• Killing Cars (de) (1986)
• Das schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl) (1990)
• Mutters Courage (Mother's Courage) (1995)
• Der unbekannte Soldat (The Unknown Soldier) (2006)
• Menschliches Versagen (Human Failure) (2008)