Director. Writer. Studied at the Deutsches Institut fuer Film und Fernsehen (DIFF) in Munich, Germany, as well as at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques (IDHEC) in Paris, France. In 1969 he founded the production company Hallelujah Film together with Volker Schlöndorff. Since 1992 he is co-manager of the Babelsberg studios in Potsdam, Germany (former UFA/DEFA).