Ulrich Köhler
Ulrich Köhler (born 15 December 1969) is a German film director and screenwriter associated with the Berlin School of filmmaking. He is best known for his films Sleeping Sickness (2011), which won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival, and In My Room (2018), which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. In an interview with the German newspaper taz, Köhler reflected on his childhood in Africa and the autobiographical elements of Sleeping Sickness.
Ulrich Köhler
Quejaytee · CC BY 4.0
- Name
- Ulrich Köhler
- Born
- 15 December 1969
- Birthplace
- Marburg, West Germany
- Occupation
- Film director, screenwriter
- Nationality
- Germany
- Honours
- Silver Bear for Best Director · Preis der deutschen Filmkritik
- Languages
- German
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Ulrich Köhler. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q108420
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
Statements marked “Documentary record” are set in the article beside the passage they confirm. Each is read from the authority records of the institutions named here; select “Prove” to see the record it was read from, where in that record, and when.
Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ulrich Köhler • Born — 15 December 1969 • Birthplace — Marburg, West Germany • Occupation — Film director, screenwriter • Years Active — 1990s–present
Documentary record
Ulrich Köhler, recorded as a director and screenwriter, was born on 15 December 1969 in Marburg. The birth is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Early life and education
Early life and education
Köhler was born in Marburg, Hesse. From the age of five to nine he lived in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), where his parents worked as development aid workers. He studied art in Quimper, France (1989–1991), then philosophy and visual communication at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, graduating in 1998.
Style and themes
Style and themes
Köhler is considered part of the Berlin School, a loose movement of German filmmakers including Christian Petzold and Angela Schanelec. His films often explore alienation, identity, and social dislocation, with minimalist style and long takes. In 2019, the British film magazine Sight & Sound described Köhler’s work as “slow-burn dramas of dislocation” and situated him within the Berlin School.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• Bungalow (2002) • Windows on Monday (2006) • Sleeping Sickness (2011) • In My Room (2018) • Das freiwillige Jahr (2019)
Awards
• Silver Bear for Best Director, Berlin International Film Festival (2011) – Sleeping Sickness
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Ulrich Köhler (director), revision 1365514924 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Feldstraße's eerste film als regisseur is Ulrich Köhler.
- 2.Ulrich Köhler – Regisseur. 2011.
- 3.Schlafkrankheit – Arte. 2015.
- 4.Montag kommen die Fenster op IMDb.
- 5.Preise & Auszeichnungen 2011.
- 6.Schlafkrankheit (Slaapziekte) op de Berlinale-website
- 7.Schlafkrankheit op het website van Festival des deutschen Films.
- 8.Villa Aurora Stipendiaten 2012 – Ulrich Köhler.
- 9.Silberner Meridian 2020 – Verein zur Förderung der Raumfahrt e. V. 2020.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Distinctions
1- Silver Bear for Best DirectorTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,713 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Ulla JacobssonPerson
- Ulla PiaPerson
- Ulli LommelPerson
- Ulrich ErfurthPerson
- Ulrich MühePerson
- Ulrich SchamoniPerson
- Ulrich SeidlPerson
- Ulrich TheinPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Ulrich Köhler?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.