Life and career

Schygulla was born in Königshütte (present day Chorzów in Poland) to German parents Antonie (née Mzyk) and Joseph Schygulla. Both the names Schygulla (also spelled Szyguła) and Mzyk are of Polish/Silesian origin, indicating a mixed heritage as was very common in Silesia. Her father, a timber merchant by profession, was then drafted as an infantryman in the German Army and was captured by American forces in Italy, subsequently being held as a prisoner of war until 1948. In 1945 Schygulla and her mother arrived as refugees in Munich following the expulsion of the majority German-speaking population of Königshütte by Communist Poland. Much later, in the 1960s, Schygulla studied Romance languages and German studies, while taking acting lessons in Munich during her spare time.

Acting eventually became her focus, and she became particularly known for her film work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. During the making of Effi Briest (1974), an adaptation of a German novel by Theodor Fontane, Fassbinder and Schygulla fell out over divergent interpretations of the character. Another issue for Schygulla was low pay, and she led a revolt against Fassbinder during the making of Effi Briest, shot in September 1972 some time before its commercial release. His response was typically blunt: "I can't stand the sight of your face any more. You bust my balls". They did not work together again for several years until The Marriage of Maria Braun in 1978. The film was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival, where she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for her performance. In 1980 she acted in Fassbinder's miniseries adaptation of Berlin Alexanderplatz.

In 1981 Schygulla starred alongside Bruno Ganz in Volker Schlöndorff's Circle of Deceit, and the following year with Isabelle Huppert in Jean-Luc Godard's Passion. She was a member of the jury at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival in 1987.

In the 1990s she became a well-known chanson singer. In Juliane Lorenz's documentary film Life, Love and Celluloid (1998), on Fassbinder and related topics, Schygulla performs several songs.

Schygulla appeared in the 2000 Béla Tarr film Werckmeister Harmonies, and in 2002 in VB51, a performance by the artist Vanessa Beecroft. Five years later, she appeared in the film The Edge of Heaven, directed by Fatih Akın, to wide acclaim.

In 2007 she received the Honorary Award from the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and in 2010 she received the Honorary Golden Bear from the Berlin Film Festival. In 2011 she acted in the Alexander Sokurov film Faust. Schygulla lived in Paris from 1981 to 2014, when she left for Berlin.

Filmography

• Love is Colder than Death (1969)
• Katzelmacher (1969)
• Gods of the Plague (1970)
• Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
• Mathias Kneissl (1970)
• The Niklashausen Journey (de) (1971)
• Rio das Mortes (1971)
• Pioneers in Ingolstadt (de) (1971)
• Whity (1971)
• Beware of a Holy Whore (1971)
• The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972)
• The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
• Acht Stunden sind kein Tag (1972, TV miniseries)
• Effi Briest (1974)
• The Wrong Move (1975)
• The Clown (1976)
• The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
• The Third Generation (1979)
• Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980, TV miniseries)
• Circle of Deceit - Die Fälschung (1981)
• Lili Marleen (1981)
• That Night in Varennes (1982)
• Passion (1982)
• Antonieta (1982)
• Sheer Madness (1983)
• The Story of Piera (1983)
• A Love in Germany (1983)
• The Future is Woman (1984)
• Peter the Great (1986, TV miniseries)
• The Delta Force (1986)
• Miss Arizona (1987)
• Forever, Lulu (1987)
• Casanova (1987)
• The Summer of Miss Forbes (1989)
• Abraham's Gold (1990)
• Dead Again (1991)
• Warsaw - Year 5703 (1992)
• The Blue Exile (1993)
• Pakten (1995)
• A Hundred and One Nights (1995)
• Metamorphosis of a Melody (1996)
• Black Out p.s. Red Out (1998)
• Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
• Winterreise (2006)
• The Edge of Heaven (2007)
• Faust (2011)
• Lullaby to My Father (2012)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]