Joseph vilsmaier

Born in Munich on January 24, 1939, at the height of the Nazi government, Joseph Vilsmaier  studied at the music conservatory, while training as a film cameraman. He began his audiovisual career in the 70s, in television productions, such as the police series Tatort, hugely successful in his country. He debuted as a director with the war drama Herbstmilch , starring Dana Vávrová , his wife.

After Rama Dama ,  Joseph Vilsmaier signed his best-known work, Stalingrad , a reconstruction of one of the bloodiest clashes of World War II, which focused on the story of a handful of Wehrmacht soldiers. In  Comedian Harmonists  he portrayed a group of Jewish a cappella singers who are persecuted by the Nazis. He was also in charge of Marlene , a biopic of his compatriot Marlene Dietrich , played by  Katja Flint . The Last Train to Auschwitz  tells the painful story of the last 688 Jews sent from Berlin to the terrible concentration camp in April 1943.

Shortly before his death, Vilsmaier had finished his last film, Der Boandlkramer und die ewige Liebe , a comedy in the service of German stars Michael Herbig and Hape Kerkeling, which will be released in Germany in November. She is survived by her three daughters, Janina, Theresa and Josephina.