Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1946-1982), German director, writer, and actor, famous for his politically controversial plays and films. Born in Bad Wörishofen in Bavaria, Fassbinder was brought up by his mother after his parents divorced in 1952; he left school in 1962 to do various jobs before making his first short films between 1965 and 1966. In 1967 he formed a commune of actors, including Hanna Schygulla, which became the Antitheatre group in 1968. The group performed in his plays and in the feature films adapted from them, notably Katzelmacher (1969), the story of a Greek immigrant persecuted by his German neighbours.

Most of Fassbinder's later films, which often starred Schygulla and Fassbinder himself, were based on his own screenplays. They include Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972; The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant), widely praised for its realistic treatment of lesbian love; Angst Essen Seele auf (1973; Fear Eats the Soul), an unusually optimistic account of the love between a Moroccan immigrant and a middle-aged cleaning woman; and Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1978; The Marriage of Maria Braun), which sets the story of a woman's life against the background of post-war West Germany.

Fassbinder also adapted novels, such as Effi Briest (1974) by Theodor Fontane, the Alfred Döblin work Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980, for television), and Querelle (1982) by Jean Genet. Fassbinder died in Munich, after overdosing on cocaine and sleeping pills, on June 10, 1982.