Rainer Werner Fassbinder

German filmmaker, playwright and actor (1945-1982)

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Lived 1945–1982, aged 37Germany

Germany ActorsWriter / Author

Fame28.3
Momentum0.0
Germany rank#133
Wikipedia32.4K

Wikipedia
60 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Germany
#133
Actors
Era
1945–1982
Aged 37

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Fassbinder made over 40 films that mashed Hollywood melodrama with social critique, mining post-war German anxieties and the exploitability of human feeling. The New German Cinema catalyst worked obsessively with the same ensemble of actors and crew across nearly every project.

Biography

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder, sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. He directed over 40 films that span a variety of genres; frequently his work blends elements of Hollywood melodrama with social criticism and avant-garde techniques. His films, according to him, explored "the exploitability of feelings". His work was deeply rooted in post-war German culture: the aftermath of Nazism, the German economic miracle and the Red Army Faction. Early on, Fassbind…

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