Biography

1984

7 January 1984: Max Riemelt is born in the East Berlin district of Mitte. He grows up in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) for the first six years of his life.

1997

Max Riemelt gains his first experience in the television business at the age of 13. In the TV productions "Eine Familie zum Küssen" and "Praxis Bulöwbogen" the Berlin native takes on the first, smaller supporting roles.

1998

In the ZDF Christmas series "Zwei Allein" ("Two of a kind", directed by Matthias Steurer) Max Riemelt plays the first leading role: the orphan "Max Loser". The six-part series is mainly filmed during the 1998 summer holidays in Berlin and Hamburg.

In the video to the title song "Two of a kind" of the Hamburg duo "R & B" Max Riemelt has a cameo appearance. The music channels VIVA and MTV show the video. The single has sold over 450,000 copies to date.

1999

"Two of a kind" proves to be an entrance ticket to the film and television world. Still, just 15 years old, Max is dependent on learning from older colleagues and experienced directors.

Max Riemelt plays a leading role in the road movie "Ein Weihnachtsmärchen - Wenn alle Herzen schmelzen". Director Johannes Fabrick films a classic father-son story for RTL. Max plays "Lukas", Götz Otto plays his film father "Tschak".

In the same year, Riemelt meets director Dana Vávrová on the set of the children's film "Der Bär ist los" ("Bear on the run"). Under her direction he plays the first leading role in a movie.

2000

In "Brennendes Schweigen" (ZDF), Friedemann Fromm's adaptation of Jacques Berndorf's novel "Eifelschnee", Max Riemelt takes on the supporting role of "Schappi".

The coming-of-age comedy "Mädchen, Mädchen" ("Girls on the top") is the starting point of many years of collaboration between director Dennis Gansel and Max Riemelt. Along with Diana Amft, Karoline Herfurth and Felicitas Woll, Max Riemelt plays the leading male role "Flin".

2001

On March 29, "Girls on the top" is released. Dennis Gansel's comedy reaches 1.78 million viewers and becomes one of the most successful German films of the year.

In the same year Max Riemelt is shooting for the TV production "Mein Vater und andere Betrüger" (director: Christian von Castelberg), among others together with Uwe Ochsenknecht.

2002

Together with Mariele Millowitsch and Miroslav Nemec, Max Riemelt shoots the comedy "Lottoschein ins Glück", directed by Dirk Regel for ZDF. The Berlin-based TV series "Alphateam - Die Lebensretter im OP" (Sat.1, episode: "Respekt", director: Gero Erhardt), "Balko" (RTL, episode: "Giftzwerge", director: Rolf Liccini), "Wolffs Revier - Au Pair" (Sat.1, Director: Peter Ristau) and "Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei" (RTL, episode "Ein tiefer Fall", director: Holger Gimpel).

In Yasemin Şamderelis "Sextasy" Max Riemelt plays the first leading role in a short film - a film art to which he is still committed today.

2003

For the short films "Die Sonne anschreien" (Director: Bastian Terhorst) and "Appassionata" Max Riemelt is once again starring in the camera.

In "In aller Freundschaft - Ich liebe Dich, Mama" (ARD, director: Jürgen Brauer) the Berliner takes on another main episode role in a TV series.

Together with Hanno Koffler Max Riemelt (supporting role, "Ingo") plays in Susanne Zacharias drama "Halle's Comets".

At the end of the year Dennis Gansel and Max Riemelt continue their collaboration: "Napola - Elite for the Führer" ("Befor the fall") is produced in Prague, Brun, at Bouzov Castle and in Hamburg. Besides Tom Schilling, Devid Striesow, Justus von Dohnányi and Michael Schenk, Max Riemelt is also part of the cast. He plays the leading role in the drama about national educational institutions.

2004

With "Neuland" (director: Stefan Hering) and "Todfeinde" (director: Petr Novak) follow other short films in which Max Riemelt takes the leading role.

At the 39th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, Max Riemelt is chosen as the best actor for his personification of "Friedrich Weimer" in "Napola".

Dominik Graf hires Riemelt as the main actor for his love drama "The Red Cockatoo". Along with Jessica Schwarz, Max Riemelt plays the leading role of "Siggi" in the costume film.

2005

"Napola - Elite for the Führer" ("Before the Fall") is released on 13 January and is a commercial success not only in Germany, but also internationally. Napola" received numerous awards from film critics, almost unanimously positive reviews: the German Film Prize for Best Screenplay (2004), the Bavarian Film Prize for Best Director (2005) and the Best Film Award at the Pyongyang International Film Festival (2006).

The European Film Promotion honours Max Riemelt as a German shooting star - a very prestigious tribute to his career to date.

Riemelt is groping his way into new territory this year. As "Aljoscha" for Hardi Sturm's adaptation of Maxim Gorky's "Nachtasyl" (arte, ZDF) alongside Esther Schweins and Hans Peter Hallwachs, he is shooting a theater film for the first time.

Riemelt is also in prominent company during the shooting of the two-part "Der Untergang der Pamir" (arte, ARD). For the film version of the real shipwreck of 1953, director Kaspar brings together Jan Josef Liefers, Klaus J. Behrendt, Dietmar Bär and Herbert Knaup, among others.

2006

On February 16, "Der Rote Kakadu" ("The Red Cockatoo") is released in German cinemas. Dominik Graf's love drama is awarded the "Golden Star Grand Prix" at the 6th International Film Festival in Marrakech in 2006. Max Riemelt is honoured in Marrakech as best actor and receives the Bavarian Film Award as best young actor.

Further roles follow: in the short films "Die Zigarrenkiste" (director: Matthias Klimsa) and "GG19" (director: Harald Siebler) and in the episode "Gefallene Engel" of the ZDF series "Der Kriminalist" (director: Torsten C. Fischer) Max Riemelt plays the leading role.

Urs Egger cast him in "An die Grenze" for the leading role of "Kerner", together with Corinna Harfouch, Bernadette Herwagen, Frederick Lau and Jacob Matschenz. The film about the GDR border guards is made in the summer months largely at original locations in Eichsfeld in Thuringia.

For Rudolf Schweiger's war drama "Mörderischer Frieden" Max Riemelt is also shooting in the leading role of "Charly" at original locations: in Kosovo, together with Adrian Topol, Peter Bongartz and Susanne Bormann.

2007

Max Riemelt is shooting four movies this year. The roles couldn't be more different.

In Adnan Kose's biopic "Lauf um Dein Leben - vom Junkie zum Ironman" he plays "Andreas" - based on Andreas Niedrig's true life story, in which Jasmin Schwiers, Uwe Ochsnknecht, Axel Stein and Robert Gwisdek also take part.

For Hardi Sturm's tragicomedy "Nicht von diesem Stern", Max Riemelt takes on the leading role of "Arnold", who thinks he is an alien and is working on a strange flying machine for his return home.

Luki Frieden engages Riemelt for his drama "Thousand Oceans". As "Meikel" in the German-Swiss film, the Berliner embarks on a dark journey together with Joel Basman, Thierry van Werveke, Maximilian Simonischek. Most of the filming takes place in the Maldives.

And last but not least, an old acquaintance of Max Riemelt secures his services: Dennis Gansel - for the role of "Marco" in the school drama "Die Welle". Also in the cast: Jürgen Vogel, Elyas M'Barek, Christiane Paul and Fredrick Lau.

2008

At the Max Ophüls Preis, Max Riemelt will sit on the jury from 14 to 20 January to judge the quality of medium-length films together with dramaturg Wenka Mikulicz and director Margit Eschenbach.

Riemelt himself is represented in spring with three films: "Lauf um Dein Leben - Vom Junkie zum Ironman", "Up! Up! To the Sky" and "Die Welle" ("The Wave") start almost simultaneously in March and April. The physical effort is so great that Max suffers from heavy nosebleeds for several days.

But the hard work pays off: Die Welle" ("The Wave") is developing most successfully: In Germany, the film already reaches 280,000 viewers on the first weekend and a total of more than 2.6 million. The school drama is exported to many countries, including the Netherlands, the USA, Taiwan, France, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Iceland, Canada and Spain.

Die Welle" ("The Wave") is voted third-best German film at the German Film Prize. Shortly afterwards Max Riemelt receives the Undine Award for best young leading actor in a feature film in Baden, Austria.

The film will be shot first in Darmstadt, later in Berlin, Poland and Sydney. Two projects are on the agenda: Firstly, in April and May, Friedrich Wittich's debut film "13 Semester". In the coming-of-age comedy Max Riemelt plays the leading role, the long-term student "Momo".

From June 17, Max Riemelt is facing what is probably the biggest challenge of his career to date. Dominik Graf invites you to shoot a real mammoth project with him and Ronald Zehrfeld in the leading roles: "In the Face of Crime" is created in Berlin and Poland. What begins planned soon gets out of hand. 10 parts with a total length of 500 minutes, 150 speech roles, 30 character roles, a total cost of 10 million euros and an insolvent production company are all in all seven months later. On January 29, 2009, the last flap will fall. "In the face of crime" goes down in television history as one of the most expensive German productions ever.

2009

After the turbulent shooting of "In the face of crime" ("In the face of crime"), which takes up to 18 hours per day, Max Riemelt takes a break of several months. It is not until late in the year that Berline is back in front of the camera to continue some lines of development of his career. In the episode "Kameradenschwein" (director: Martin Kinkel) for the ZDF crime series "Der Staatsanwalt" he takes on the role of "Markus Pohl".

With his commitment to Andy Fetscher's horror film "Urban Explorer", Riemelt underlines his penchant for independent projects outside the commercial mainstream.

Last but not least, Max Riemelt will continue his collaboration with Dennis Gansel from October to December 2009. Gansel stages the vampire film "We are the Night". Besides Max Riemelt, Anna Fischer, Karoline Herfurth, Jennifer Ulrich and Nina Hoss also help him to realize his long-planned project.

2010

On January 7, Max Riemelt's 26th birthday, Frieder Wittich's student comedy "13 Semester" will be screened nationwide. The film reaches 160,000 viewers.

In the face of crime" becomes much more successful. On February 20 and 21, after two years of production at the Berlinale International Forum, the crime series will have its world premiere in front of 800 viewers at the sold-out Delphi Filmpalast.

The German Film Prize in the categories "Best Multi-part" and "Special Performance Fiction" for the ensemble, for example, as well as the Grimme Prize in the "Fiction" competition for cast and crew.

Last but not least, Max Riemelt himself was nominated for the "Golden Camera" of the programme guide "Hörzu" in the category "Best Actor" for his acting achievements alongside Herbert Knaup and the winner Ulrich Tukur.

Similar to "Napola" five years earlier, "In the face of crime" developed into a turning point in Max Riemelt's career. While he succeeded in taking the step from child star to young actor as "Friedrich Weimer", Max Riemelt is now perceived by the general public as a character actor for the first time by "Marek Gorsky".

The roles are becoming more complex, the content more demanding, the productions more international and the schedule fuller. Max Riemelt is shooting five productions this year. For some in parallel.

From April 20 to June 5, Pia Strietmann asks a tragicomedy about a mourning, strangely torn family in the Westphalian province of Münster for her debut film "Tage, die bleiben". Max plays "Lars", the son who tries to save the family.

From 29 June to 12 August Max Riemelt will be shooting in and around Frankfurt for Eran Riklis as basketball player "Thomas". Under the title "PlayOff", the Israeli director films the life story of the Jewish basketball coach Max Stoller, played by Hollywood mime Danny Huston.

Almost simultaneously, from July 13 to August 20, Max is shooting for another thriller format under the direction of Thomas Berger. In "Schandmal - Der Tote im Berg" he plays "Thomas Haffner", a police officer suspected of murder. Katja Flint and Herbert Knaup also take on leading roles in ZDF production.

From November, Max Riemelt will be similarly busy: He takes on the supporting role of "Thomas" in Alex Schmidt's thriller "Du hast es verspsprochen". The film is produced under the working title "Dunkel" on Hiddensee, in Hamburg as well as in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Even further east, between 28 November and 18 February 2011, the shooting of the political thriller "The Fourth Power" will take place in Berlin, Landshut and the Ukraine. Starring: Kasia Smutniak, Rade Serbedizia, Max Riemelt and Moritz Bleibtreu. Directed - again - by Dennis Gansel.

2011

Max Riemelt meets new faces at the beginning of 2011 and is shooting in Frankfurt, Cologne and Buenos Aires from March to June as "Friedrich". His film partner is played by the well-known Argentinean actress Celeste Cid. Director Jeanine Meerapfel stages her love story in the turmoil of the post-war and student revolts under the title "Der deutsche Freund".

Max Riemelt shoots classic popcorn cinema in Cologne in August and September. In Marco Petry's comedy "Heiter bis Wolkig" Elyas M'barek and he play two ripper ("Can" and "Tim"), who hunt for aprons with lousy tricks and get to the sisters "Edda" (Jessica Schwarz) and "Marie" (Anna Fischer).

"Auslandseinsatz" (director: Till Endemann), the first film about Bundeswehr soldiers in Afghanistan, is made from October 4 to November 15 in Cologne and Morocco with Max Riemelt ("Daniel Gerber") and Hanno Koffler ("Ronnie Klein") in the leading roles. For Riemelt it is - after "Mörderischer Frieden" - already the second film about a foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr, for Hanno Koffler and him the beginning of a friendship.

2012

Pia Strietmann's debut film "Tage, die bleiben" celebrates its premiere on January 26. Cast and crew are already touring eighteen German cities. Max Riemelt himself will be in Munich on January 11 and Düsseldorf on January 20.

The first half of February will be dominated by the Berlinale. For the "ARD Morgenmagazin", Riemelt visits various film screenings as a film critic. On February 14th he will be guest in the studio together with Anna Fischer with presenter Anke Engelke.

Dennis Gansel's political thriller "Die Vierte Macht" ("The Fourth Power") with Moritz Bleibtreu and Max Riemelt in the leading roles will be released in cinemas nationwide on 8 March - unfortunately more cautiously than hoped for in the face of fierce competition.

This year Max Riemelt himself will be shooting from 17 July to 19 August. In Stephan Lacant's politically stirring drama "Free Fall", he and Hanno Koffler play two policemen who fall in love with each other.

A few days later, "Heiter bis Wolkig" opens in the cinema on September 6. The comedy reaches number 5 in the cinema charts and reaches a total of 500,000 viewers.

On the same day, shooting of the ZDF mystery thriller "Der Zweite Mann" (director: Christopher Lenke) begins in Berlin and the surrounding area. Max Riemelt plays the leading role "Adrian"; Anna Drijver and Fabian Busch take on another leading role. After a total of 20 days of shooting, the last flap falls on October 2.

Two weeks later, on 17 October 2012, "Auslandseinsatz" celebrates its TV premiere. Till Endemann's war drama with Max Riemelt and Hanno Koffler reaches a market share of 11.8 percent with 3.69 million viewers.

On 23 October, work begins on another ZDF film in North Rhine-Westphalia: director René Heisig reminds us of the bleeding scandal of the 1970s with "Blutgeld". Max Riemelt played "Ralf", one of three brothers who fall ill with HIV through contaminated blood plasma donations. The shooting closes on November 24.

In the last weeks of the year Max tests new forms of artistic expression for him: He reads - first Susan E. Hinton's "Die Outsider" for the NEON audio book edition, then on 30 November in the sold-out Berlinische Galerie from Thomas Brasch's volume of stories "Vor den Eltern sterben die Kinder".

2013

2013 is the year in which Max Riemelt finally emancipates himself from the image of the young actor. Especially with two productions he consolidates the public image of himself as a character actor: with "Free Fall" and "Blutgeld".

"Freier Fall" ("Free Fall") opens the series "Perspektive Deutsches Kino" at the beginning of February at the Berlinale and starts on 23 May in the cinema. Stefan Lacant's drama about two gay policemen becomes a political issue. For weeks the media have been discussing how to deal with same-sex love. Hanno Koffler and Max Riemelt are celebrated as the "dream couple of German cinema". In ZEITmagazin, Matthias Kalle portrays a new generation of actors characterized by a "mixture of courage and melancholy". In autumn, Max Riemelt and Hanno Koffler are awarded the "Mayor's Prize" for their performance in "Free Fall" at the 3rd Günther Rohrbach Film Prize.

The television premiere of René Heisig's drama "Blutgeld" has a similar mass impact. 4.29 million viewers tune in on 28 October when ZDF television shows "Blutgeld" at prime time. The film with Max Riemelt as an HIV-infected "Ralf" fighting against the pharmaceutical lobby triggers a broad public discussion about how to deal with the haemophiliac scandal, which has not yet been completely solved.

Max himself is in front of the camera at this time. After a six-month time-out at the beginning of 2013, the projects are closely linked. The prelude is "Lichtgestalten", an art-house cinema film directed by Christian Moris Müller and made in Berlin from June 10 to July 23.

From 13 August to 13 September Max Riemelt takes on the leading role of "Krapp" in the drama "Freistatt" (director: Marc Brummund). Together with Stephan Grossmann and Alexander Held he shoots the film in Freistatt in Lower Saxony and in Hamburg.

Two weeks later the shooting of the biopic "Alleinflug" starts in Berlin. Director Christine Hartmann for ZDF the glamorous love story of aviation pioneer Elly Beinhorn (Vicky Krieps) and racing driver Bernd Rosemeyer (Max Riemelt). The film will be made between October 1 and November 15 in Berlin, Dresden and Cape Town.

At the end of the year Max is again in front of the camera, first in Berlin, but also in Cologne, Remscheid and Bonn - again to play a couple. This time Hannelore Elsner and Sharon Brauner are the film partners. The relationship between the traumatized, sharp-tongued lady (Elsner, Brauner) and the young, helpless Jonas (Riemelt) is tragicomically presented by director Uwe Janson in "Auf das Leben" ("To Life!").

2014

Great luck for all nostalgics: On 21 February, Christmas series "Zwei Allein" ("Two of a kind") - more than 15 years after its first broadcast on ZDF - is finally released on DVD in Germany.

The year starts well for Max Riemelt, who celebrates his 30th birthday on January 7: On March 2, the thriller "Der zweite Mann" not only opens the newly created arthouse series "Die Stunde des Bösen" on ZDF, but a few days later a project is also given great honour: on March 18, the German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired honours "Blutgeld" with the renowned German Radio Film Award in the category "TV".

"Elly Beinhorn - Alleinflug", the biopic about the flight pioneer Elly Beinhorn (Vicky Krieps) and the racing driver Bernd Rosemeyer (Max Riemelt), staged by Christian Hartmann, celebrates its TV premiere at prime time on ZDF on 29 March.

Max Riemelt himself was already back in front of the camera at the time. From March 11th to April 8th director Jan Fehse realizes the thriller "Storno - Todsicher versichert" with the Berliner as "Rupert Halmer" in the leading role. In Lower Bavaria Max Riemelt meets Amelie Kiefer, Jeanette Hain, Jürgen Tonkel, Axel Stein and Marcus Mittermaier, who take on further leading roles.

The next project surpasses everything in which Max Riemelt had been involved during his seventeen-year career. None other than the Matrix creators Andy and Lana Wachowski hire Riemelt as the only German actor and one of eight leading actors for the Netflix series "Sense8". Besides Max Riemelt, Brian J. Smith (Stargate Universe), Tuppence Middleton (Cleanskin), Aml Ameen (Kidulthood), Doona Bae (Cloud Atlas), Miguel Silvestri, Tena Desae (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), and Jamie Clayton (Hung) play leading roles. The cast of "Sense 8" also includes Naveen Andrews (Lost), Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill), Freema Agyeman (Dr. Who) and the actors Alfonso Herrera, Erendira Ibarra and Terrence Mann. Initially, ten episodes will be shot in nine countries on four continents.

Parallel to the shooting of "Sense8", two other films are developing excellently: "Du hast es verspsprochen" and "Auf das Leben" ("To Life!"): "Du hast es verspsprochen" opens the series "Shooting Stars - Junges Kino im Zweiten" on ZDF on 29 July. And "To Life" will not only celebrate its world premiere at the A-Festival in Montreal/Canada on August 27, 28 and 29, but the series "Between Judaism and Israelism" will open on October 11 at the International Film Festival in Haifa. Auf das Leben" can be seen for the first time in Germany at the Hof Film Festival on 24, 25 and 26 October. One month later, on 27 November, the film finally celebrates its cinema premiere with Hannelore Elsner and Max Riemelt in the leading roles.

2015

2015 starts on the red carpet. Two films starring Max Riemelt are among the 16 nominated works for the 36th Max Ophüls Prize, which is endowed with 36,000 euros and will take place in Saarbrücken from 19 to 25 January: The arthouse drama "Lichtgestalten" directed by Christian Moris Müller and Marc Brummund's feature film "Freistatt", both of which were already shot in summer 2013. "Freistatt" wins twice in Saarbrücken: The drama wins the Audience Prize and the Youth Jury Prize, the only two prizes that are awarded directly by the audience or target group and not by a professional jury.

The drama "Auf das Leben" ("To Life!"), produced by Alice Brauner and directed by Uwe Janson, starring Hannelore Elsner and Max Riemelt is equally successful. At the German Hörfilmpreis 2015, "Auf das Leben" prevails over eleven other films and wins the audience award. The award ceremony will take place on March 18. Less than a month later, producer Alice Brauner can report a real coup: Memesha Films will release "Auf das Leben" under the international title "To Life!" in the USA in autumn and also secures the rights for Australia and New Zealand. Tele Cine wants to bring the film to the cinema in Brazil, Suraya in Southeast Asia.

Two more films with Max Riemelt in the leading roles will also make speeches at film festivals in spring 2015: "Lichtgestalten" opens the achtung berlin - new berlin film award on 15 April and at the Festival de Cannes Barbet Schroeder's drama "Amnesia", in which Max Riemelt plays the world premiere of DJ "Jo".

In any case, Max Riemelt will increasingly become an internationally renowned actor in spring and summer 2015. This is mainly due to "Sense8", the Netflix series staged by the Wachowskis siblings and Tom Tykwer, which will be released in more than 50 countries worldwide on June 5.

Internationally, it will continue in 2015. Directed by Cate Shortland, Max Riemelt will shoot the drama "Berlin Syndrome", an adaptation of Melanaie Joosten's novel of the same name, in the leading role of Andi alongside Teresa Palmer as Claire from August and until October 2 in Berlin and Australia.

At the same time, "Auf das Leben" will be screened at film festivals in Jakarta (Indonesia), Beirut (Lebanon) and Chengdu (China) under the English title "To Life!

On 4 December Max Riemelt builds on a tradition he has grown fond of in the meantime: He reads again in the Berlinische Galerie, this time from Ernst Haffner's rediscovered novel "Blutsbrüder", a portrait of Berlin youth from the early 1930s.

A few days later, on the second day of Christmas, shooting begins in Berlin for the second season of the Netflix series "Sense8".

2016

Just in time for Max Riemelt's 32nd birthday, the love drama "Lichtgestalten", produced by director Christian Moris Müller, starts on January 7, 2016, two days after its premiere, which takes place on January 5, 2016 at the Volksbühne in Berlin.

Most of 2016 Max Riemelt travels around the globe to shoot the second season of the science fiction series "Sense8" under the direction of the Wachowski brothers and sisters. In the leading role of Wolfgang, Max Riemelt will not be shooting until 23 and 24 January 2016 in Chicago, then from March Mexico City, San Francisco, Malibu, Sao Paulo, London, Cambrige, Scotland, Amsterdam, The Hague, Nairobi, Seoul, Berlin and finally on Malta, where the last key to the second season of "Sense8" falls on 19 September 2016.

Back in Berlin Max revives a good old tradition: As in previous years, he gave a guest performance for an evening at the Galeria in Berlin. This time Riemelt read from Kurt Schwitter's Dadaist tale "Auguste Bolte" in front of a sold-out hall on November 4.

A few weeks later, on December 23, 2016, Netflix released the Christmas special for the series, shot in late 2015, early 2016 in Berlin and Chicago, a two-hour film with the title "Sense8: A Christmas Special".

2017

The new year takes Max Riemelt back to the USA, more precisely to Park City (Ohio): On January 20, 2017, the drama "Berlin Syndrome", directed by the Australian director Cate Shortland, celebrated its world premiere at the renowned Sundance Film Festival in the competition "World Cinema Dramatic Competition".

And the rest of the spring was no less prestigious: on 13 February, Max Riemelt received a very special honour: at a reception at the French Embassy in Berlin, French Ambassador Philippe Etienne awarded him the French Knightly Order of Art and Literature (Chevaliers des Artes et des Lettres). With the Order, France honours selected personalities who "have distinguished themselves through their artistic or literary work or their contribution to the charisma of the arts and literature in France and the world".

Just one day later, on 14 February, "Berlin Syndrome" celebrates its European premiere in the Panorama of the Berlinale, before the film finally starts in German cinemas on 8 April 2017.

At this time, the crowdfunding campaign for a sequel of the love drama "Free Fall" is already running, for which fans donate 100,000 euros until April 26 - money that the producers used to write a script for a possible continuation of "Free Fall".

On May 10, 2017 Netflix will release the second season of the science fiction series "Sense8" produced by the Wachowski siblings with Max Riemelt in the lead role of Wolfgang Bogdanow.

At the same time, "Auf das Leben" will be screened at film festivals in Jakarta (Indonesia), Beirut (Lebanon) and Chengdu (China) under the English title "To Life!

On 4 December Max Riemelt builds on a tradition he has grown fond of in the meantime: He reads again in the Berlinische Galerie, this time from Ernst Haffner's rediscovered novel "Blutsbrüder", a portrait of Berlin youth from the early 1930s.

A few days later, on the second day of Christmas, shooting begins in Berlin for the series finale of the Netflix series "Sense8".

2018

Two days after his 34th birthday, on 12 January 2018, Max Riemelt is once again a guest at the Berlinische Galerie and reads "Führer durch das lasterhafte Berlin" to a sold-out audience from Curt Moreck.

This year Max is shooting in Cuba for the first time. From 15 May to 8 July, under the direction of Ronald Vietz, the film "Ernesto's Island" is produced, in which Max Riemelt plays the leading male role - the advertising expert Matthias, who is looking for his family's past in Cuba.

At the same time Netflix releases the two-hour film "Sense8 - Together until the end" on June 8, which completes the series.

In 2018 Max Riemelt stood in front of the camera for two more productions - first for the film "My mother's girlfriend" ("Die Freundin meiner Mutter") produced by Mark Monheim for the German television station ARD and then from the beginning of November for the BBC One series "Wold On Fire" produced by Peter Bowker.

For "My mother's girlfriend" Max Riemelt starred together with Katja Flint, Antje Traue and Jasna Fritzi Bauer in one of the leading roles until August 31, 2018 in Hamburg. For the shooting of "World On Fire" he acted together with his buddy Brian J. Smith ("Sense8") and Hollywood star Helen Hunt.

2019

"My mother's girlfriend", the film for which Max Riemelt appeared in front of the camera in mid-2018 under the direction of Mark Monheim, will celebrate its premiere at the beginning of the year: The German television channel Das Erste will show "My mother's girlfriend" on 13 March 2019 at prime time.

This is followed by shooting in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the feature film "Everyone's talking about the weather". In a supporting role Max Riemelt is in front of the camera as Marcel Kohler. The director is Annika Plinske.

As soon as the scenes for "Everyone's talking about the weather" are finished, Max is back in front of the camera. This time in a leading role. As chief detective Lutz Gehring he investigates in the crime thriller "Der Schneegänger" alongside Nadja Bobyleva. Director Josef Rusnak directs "Der Schneegänger" for the German television channel ZDF.

On June 3, 2019 Max Riemelt will continue an old, cherished tradition: Together with the American author Joey Goebel he will read from Joey Goebel's book "Irgendwann wird es gut" in front of a sold-out house in Berlin's Clinker Lounge.

The music video "Babylon" by the Berlin singer-songwriter Max Prosa will be released on July 9, 2019. Max Riemelt plays one of the leading roles alongside Ben Becker. You can watch the video for "Babylon" here.

Max Riemelt is also in front of the camera throughout the summer. From 16 July, the MDR Tatort "The time has come" will be produced in and around Dresden. Stephan Lacant will be the director. Max Riemelt stars in the episode leading role of Louis, together Katia Fellin.

In Leipzig and Berlin, Max later appears in front of the camera in a supporting role as "Paul" for the movie "Precious Ivie" (German title: "Ivie wie Ivie"). The film is directed by Sarah Blaßkiewitz and stars Haley Louise Jones, Lorna Ishema, Anne Haug and Maximilian Brauer. Shooting takes place from August 13 to September 20.

The BBC One series "World on Fire" (directed by Peter Bowker) premieres on 29 September, simultaneously on BBC One and on the RTL streaming service "TV Now". In "World On Fire" Max Riemelt plays a supporting role alongside the leading actors Helen Hunt and Sean Bean.

Towards the end of the year, shooting is scheduled for the feature film " Die Pfefferkörner und der Schatz der Tiefsee" ("The Peppercorns and the Treasure of the Deep Sea"). Directed by Christian Theede, Max Riemelt plays a leading role, alongside the children's actors Charlotte Martz, Emilia Flint, Badasar Colbiyik, David Bredin and Leander Pütz. In the film (book: Dirk Ahner), a group of teenagers ("Die Pfefferkörner") trace the trail of a disappeared marine explorer who has discovered a way to master plastic waste in the sea.

On October 18, 2019, the radio play "Kleiner Drei", directed by Josef Ulbig, is released, in which Max Riemelt plays one of the leading roles alongside Eva Meckbach and Johannes Klaußner. More information can be found here.

Max Riemelt receives a great honour on 24 October 2019: The city of Hof and the organisers of the Hof International Film Festival award Max Riemelt with the Film Award he City of Hof. The organizers' statement: "By awarding the prize to Max Riemelt, the City of Hof and the Hof International Film Festival are honouring an outstanding actor who fills his roles with wisdom, intensity and subtle emotions. Many of his films premiered in Hof and became great successes." The Film Prize of the City of Hof is considered as one of the special awards in German film.

At the Hof Film Festival the drama "Kopfplatzen" ("Headburst"), in which Max Riemelt plays a paedophile who fights against his inclinations, also celebrates its German premiere. "Headburst" (director: Savas Ceviz) is also internationally acclaimed despite or maybe even because of its difficult subject matter. "Headburst" has its world premiere on 18 October 2019 at the 43rd Mosta Internacional de Cinema film festival in Sao Paulo. In December "Headburst" is also shown at the 50th IFFI International Film Festival of India, the oldest film festival in Asia. At the end of the year the renowned Brazilian newspaper "Cinema Rapadure" finally chooses "Headburst" as one of the ten best films of the year.

2020

Actually, 2020 should have been Max Riemelt's year, because it started very promisingly. On his 36th birthday, Max Riemelt was way more than pleased to announce that Lana Wachowski signed him up for the cast of "The Matrix 4" (working title) - the sequel that fans of the cult film "Matrix" had been waiting for for years. The spreading Covid19 pandemic put a huge crimp in Max Riemelt's and the entire film team's plans. When the pandemic began to spread worldwide, Max Riemelt was filming in San Francisco. The shooting had to be stopped and could only be resumed months later, in June.

In the meantime, not only a reading at the Berlinische Galerie planned for April 23rd had to be cancelled without replacement. The cinema premiere of Savaş Ceviz Drama "Head Burst" ("Head Burst"), with Max Riemelt in the leading role, which was planned for April, also had to be postponed by months. Salzgeber, the distributor, first showed the film online for a while and then finally brought "Head Burst" to the German cinema on August 20.

Six weeks later, on September 21, the children's film "Die Pfefferkörner und der Schatz der Tiefsee" (Director: Christian Theede)" celebrated its world premiere at the children's film festival "Der Goldene Spatz". Due to the Corona Pandemic, the festival was also held online for the first time: Fans could buy tickets to stream the festival films online.

Also in 2020 and these times as scheduled, the VR film "Gloomy Eyes" (Directors: Fernando Maldonado, Jorge Tereso) was released on February 14 and the crime thriller "Der Schneegänger" (March 8, Director: Josef Rusnak ) as well the Dresden Tatort "Die Zeit ist gekommen" (April 5, Director: Stephan Lacant) celebrated their television premieres.

2021

2021 started calmly after the shooting marathon for Matrix IV in the previous year.

The first public dates were not until February: The German TV channel ZDF showed the crime thriller "Der Schneegänger" with Max Riemelt in one of the main roles on February 22 at prime time. In the run-up, Max had numerous interviews and was a guest on a couple of radio and TV shows. On February 19, he appeared in the WDR show "Kölner Treff" and on February 22, he visited the NDR show "DAS!".

A few weeks later, Max Riemelt was back in front of the camera: From the end of March to the mid of July, he shot the six-part political thriller "Bonn" first in the Czech Republic and from Mid June also in North Rhine-Westphalia, which director Claudia Garde staged for WDR in cooperation with Odeon Film and Wilma Films. Mercedes Müller and Sebastian Blomberg took on other leading roles.

Filming for "Bonn" was interrupted by a particularly nice event: Max Riemelt was among the winners of the Jupiter Awards 2021 and was privileged to receive Germany's biggest audience award from Cinema.de editor-in-chief Philipp Schulze in mid-June.

The children's film "Die Pfefferkörner und der Schatz der Tiefsee" was released in German theaters on September 30, 2021, after the theatrical release originally planned for October 2020 and then for March 2021 and June 2021 had to be postponed twice due to the Corona pandemic.

A few weeks later, Max Riemelt received another special honor: At the Kinofest Lünen on November 23, he received the award for Best Actor for his performance in "Kopfplatzen" ("Head Burst"). He was actually supposed to receive the award in 2020. However, due to the Corona pandemic, the award had to be postponed until 2021.

The Corona pandemic also had a hand in another event: On November 23, 2021, Max Riemelt received the acting award at the Kinofest Lünen for his performance in "Kopfplatzen" ("Head Burst") The award ceremony was actually planned for 2020, but then had to be postponed by a year.

Right before Christmas, the Wachowskis gave fans of the legendary Matrix trilogy a very special gift: On December 22, "The Matrix Resurrections" was released simultaneously in US-theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max. One day later, on December 23, 2021, "The Matrix Resurrections" premiered also in German cinemas. It was also a dream come true for Max Riemelt. When "The Matrix" was released in 1999, Max Riemelt was a huge fan of the now legendary cult film. 22 years later, Max Riemelt was now in front of the camera for "The Matrix Resurrections" under the direction of Lana Wachowski, who wrote the role to suit him perfectly – together with Hollywood stars such as Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves.

2022

The new year got off to a busy start for Max Riemelt. For the comedy "Das Weihnachtstaxi" ("The Christmas Cab"), produced by Dirk Kummer for the German TV station ZDF, Max Riemelt was in front of the camera since February 1, 2022, together with Dietmar Bär and Marlene Tanczik and other actors. Filming took place in Hamburg and the Harz Mountains.

On February 14, 2022, the film "Alle reden übers Wetter" ("All talk about the weather"), in which Max can be seen in a supporting role, celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale, which took place with viewers in the usual setting for the first time since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.

Over the summer, Max Riemelt - after Sense8 - was once again in front of the camera for a Netflix production. "Schlafende Hunde" (international title: Sleeping Dogs) was the name of the six-parter directed by Stephan Lacant and Franci Meletzky. Alongside Luise von Luise von Finckh, Carlo Ljubek, Peri Baumeister, Antonio Wannek and Melodie Wakivuamina, Max Riemelt played one of the main roles. The film was based on the Israeli series "The Exchange Principle".

On August 10, 2022, the drama "Ivie wie Ivie" (international title: "Precious Ivie"), directed by Sarah Blaßkiewitz and starring Haley Louise Jones, Lorna Ishema, Anne Haug and Maximilian Brauer, celebrated its television premiere in Germany. ZDF showed the film with Max Riemelt as "Paul" in one of the supporting roles at 11:15 pm.

A few weeks later, on October 22, 2022, the ARD mini-series "Bonn - Alte Freunde, neue Feinde" (Bonn - Old Friends, New Enemies), directed by Claudia Garde, celebrated its premiere at the 32nd Film Festival Cologne in the presence of director Claudia Garde and leading actors Mercedes Müller, Jürgen Maurer and Sebastian Blomberg and Max Riemelt.

Shortly before Christmas, on December 18, 2022, the feature film "Ein Taxi zur Bescherung" (formerly: "Das Weihnachtstaxi"), directed by Dirk Kummer, celebrated its premiere: the German TV channel ZDF showed the film in prime time at 8:15 pm. In one of the main roles, Max Riemelt played the blind man "Jan Olsmer," who takes a cab on his way to his Internet acquaintance Jenny Feller (Marelne Tanczik).

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2023

"Bonn - Old Friends, New Enemies" (original title: "Bonn - Alte Freunde, neue Feinde"), the mini-series produced by Claudia Garde for German TV station ARD premiered on German TV in early 2023. On January 17, January 18 and January 24, ARD showed two of the six episodes of the series about the beginnings of the Federal Intelligence Service and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the Federal Republic of Germany in the early 1950s every Tuesday. Alongside actors such as Mercedes Müller, Sebastian Blomberg and Martin Wuttke, Max Riemelt played one of the main roles - the constitutional protection agent Wolfgang Berns.

Another film starring Max Riemelt celebrated its premiere on April 13: The drama Ernesto's Island, directed by Ronald Vietz, was screened at the Babylon Kino am Berlin Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in the presence of cast and crew as part of the 19th Achtung Berlin Film Festival. A few weeks later, on May 11, the team around director Ronald Vietz went on a cinema tour through Germany with "Ernesto's Island" before the film officially starts in German cinemas on May 18.

About a month later, on June 22, 2023, the first season of the series SLEEPING DOGS started worldwide on the streaming service Netflix. Alongside Luise von Finckh, Carlo Ljubek, Peri Baumeister, Antonio Wannek and Melodie Wakivuamina, Max Riemelt starred in the leading role of Mike Atlas. The directors included no stranger: Stephan Lacant, with whom Max has already worked for "Free Fall" and the crime scene "Die Zeit ist gekommen", directed the first three episodes, Francis Meletzky the episodes 4 to 6.

When Netflix published "Sleeping Dogs", Max was already back in front of the camera - in the leading role of Jens and directed by Lucia Chiarla for the feature film " It's about Luis" (German title: "Es geht um Luis"). The film was shot in June and August 2023 in Stuttgart and Weimar.

In the middle of August, shooting began for the feature film "2:1," directed by Natja Bruckhorst. Max Riemelt also played one of the leading roles in this film about the chaos in the GDR during the collapse of the former East German state, alongside Sandra Hüller, Ronald Zehrfeld, Ursula Werner and Peter Kurt.

2024

At the beginning of March, Max Riemelt began filming the movie "Etwas ganz besonderes" ("Something very special"). Under the direction of Eva Trabisch, he was in front of the camera in one of the leading roles for the comedy in Thuringia, Hamburg and Munich. Other leading roles are played by Frida Honemann, Eva Löbau, Gina Henkel, Peter René Lüdicke and Rahel Ohm.

A few days later, on March 22, 2024, X-Verleih announced the date for the theatrical release of "Zwei zu eins" ("Two to one"). The comedy with Max Riemelt in one of the leading roles was to be released in German cinemas on July 25, 2024. Earlier, Max went on a cinema tour across Germany with the team led by director Natja Brunckhorst and the two other main actors Sandra Hüller and Ronald Zehrfeld. The tour started on July 17 in Berlin at the legendary Delphi Filmpalast and ended on July 27 in Würzburg – two days after the official theatrical release of "Zwei zu eins"

Before that, namely from May 16, 2024, Max Riemelt is in front of the camera for the second cinema movie this year: In his German-language debut “The Tasters”, Italian director Silvio Solidini realized the film adaptation of Rosella Postorino's novel “The Wolf's Table” with Elisa Schlott, Alma Hasun and Max Riemelt in the leading roles.

In the meantime, “Zwei zu eins” has become one of the most successful German films of the summer. In just the first three weeks after its cinema release on July 25, 2024, over 300,000 viewers flocked to cinemas in Germany to see Nadja Brunckhorst's comedy with Max Riemelt in one of the leading roles. Global distributor The Playmaker also sold the film rights to Scandinavia, Hungary, the Baltic States, Latin America, Israel, France, Spain, Australia and Greece, among others.

The family comedy “About Luis” (“Es geht um Luise”) was similarly successful. Lucia Chiarla's film celebrated its world premiere on October 7, 2024 in the competition of the Zurich Film Festival and was also one of 18 films in the “Official Selection/Progressive Cinema” competition of the equally renowned 19th Rome Film Festival, which started on October 18, 2024. At the 19th Rome Film Fest, "About Louis" won the Sorriso Diverso Roma Award for the best foreign film. The award is given to films that stand out due to their particular social relevance and artistic quality. The German premiere took place on December 4 in Stuttgart. “It's about Luis“ (”About Luis") opened the 30th Filmschau Baden-Württemberg.

At the same time, Max Riemelt stood in front of the camera alongside Jeanette Hain in Venice in the fall of 2024. The ARD Degeto thriller “Spurlos in Venedig” was directed by Claudia Garde and based on a screenplay by Florian Iwersen. The last take was shot in the northern Italian lagoon city at the beginning of December.