Thomas Heise
Thomas Heise (1955-2024) is one of the most important European documentary film directors of his generation. He was the son of Rosemarie Heise, a scholar of German language and literature, and her husband and Wolfgang, a philosopher. Like many children born into the GDR elite, Thomas developed a critical attitude towards the East German state, which defined itself as a bastion of anti-fascism after the collapse of Nazi Germany - but was in fact a communist dictatorship.
Thomas Heise came to film directing via a roundabout route. Even his choice of subjects brought him into conflict with the decision-makers in the East German film industry, which was tightly controlled by the communist party. This is why the majority of his work was produced after the Peaceful Revolution of 1989/90.
‘That was the art of Thomas Heise – to tell German history in such a concrete way that even in 100 years' time, one will actually still be able feel and understand something,’ wrote critic Matthias Dell after Thomas Heise died in May 2024, when he was only 68 years of age. Our collection presents EISENZEIT, an early masterpiece by the director, and HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME, his internationally award-winning opus magnum, released in 2019.
Thomas Heise
Thomas Heise (1955-2024) is one of the most important European documentary film directors of his generation. He was the son of Rosemarie Heise, a scholar of German language and literature, and her husband and Wolfgang, a philosopher. Like many children born into the GDR elite, Thomas developed a critical attitude towards the East German state, which defined itself as a bastion of anti-fascism after the collapse of Nazi Germany - but was in fact a communist dictatorship.
Thomas Heise came to film directing via a roundabout route. Even his choice of subjects brought him into conflict with the decision-makers in the East German film industry, which was tightly controlled by the communist party. This is why the majority of his work was produced after the Peaceful Revolution of 1989/90.
‘That was the art of Thomas Heise – to tell German history in such a concrete way that even in 100 years' time, one will actually still be able feel and understand something,’ wrote critic Matthias Dell after Thomas Heise died in May 2024, when he was only 68 years of age. Our collection presents EISENZEIT, an early masterpiece by the director, and HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME, his internationally award-winning opus magnum, released in 2019.