Dominik Graf

Biography

Dominik Graf (born September 6, 1952) is a German film and television director, screenwriter, and occasional actor. Born in Munich, he is the son of actor Robert Graf and actress and writer Selma Urfer. He initially studied German literature and musicology before enrolling at the University of Television and Film Munich in 1974. His graduation film Der kostbare Gast (1979) received a Bavarian Film Award. Graf established himself as a director of crime dramas and thrillers, gaining recognition for his work on German television series such as Der Fahnder and Tatort. His breakthrough in cinema came with the crime thriller Die Katze (1988), starring Götz George, for which he received the German Film Award for Best Director. He subsequently directed Die Sieger (1994), an ambitious police thriller that became one of his best-known films. His later work includes Der Felsen (2002), Hotte im Paradies (2002), Der rote Kakadu (2006), and the acclaimed crime series Im Angesicht des Verbrechens (2010). He also directed Beloved Sisters (2014), a historical drama about Friedrich Schiller and the sisters Charlotte and Caroline von Lengefeld, which was selected as Germany’s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2021, Graf directed Fabian: Going to the Dogs, an adaptation of Erich Kästner’s novel set in Berlin during the final years of the Weimar Republic. The film received several German Film Award nominations and won the Silver Award for Best Feature Film. In addition to his filmmaking career, Graf has taught film directing at the International Film School Cologne since 2004. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including German Film Awards, Bavarian Film Awards, and multiple Grimme Awards.