Wittstock, Wittstock

Born in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) in 1944, and grew up in the former East Germany (GDR). He graduated from the German Academy of Film Art in Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1969, and entered the state-run DEFA Studio for Documentary Films as a director thereafter. When DEFA was dissolved in the wake of German reunification, Koepp began to work as a freelance director, writer, and producer. During the five decades of his career, he shot more than 60 documentaries. He filmed extensively in East Germany, and later also in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Russia. His earlier works, such as the Wittstock series (1974─1997) and the March Brandenburg Trilogy (1989─1991), document the lives of common people living in the radically changing East German towns with genuine care and compassion. From the mid 90s, Eastern and Central Europe, especially the Baltic coastal region, became another focus of his work. His films tell how people's lives, and the landscapes in which they are living, are impacted by history, economic change, and ecological destruction.