Franz Müller

Franz Müller (born 20 October 1965 in Mosbach) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer.

Life and work Müller first studied early history and prehistory, then fine arts under Gerhard Richter and cybernetics at the Düsseldorf Art Academy until 1995. From 1999 Müller completed a post-graduate course at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne under Michael Lentz and Wolfgang Becker.

After his first realized short films in the 1990s, Müller directed the episode "Vater und Sohn" for the anthology film Freitagnacht (2001), which received the Gold award in the German competition at the Filmschoolfest Munich in 2002. He completed his studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with his first feature film, the satirical Science Fiction (later titled Kein Science Fiction), for which he was awarded the prize for the best graduate film at the Babelsberg Media Awards in Potsdam in 2002. in Berlin together with Eva-Maria Weerts and has been working as a film producer ever since. His company co-produced the documentaries Notturno and Alice Schwarzer, among others. He also wrote for various film magazines. To this day, he is one of the editors of the German film magazine Revolver. He has been a professor of screenwriting at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne since 2023. The German film critic Ekkehard Knörer sees him as part of the Berlin School, but remarks in an interview with Müller for the German film magazine Cargo: "Franz Müller relates to the Berlin School a little like Luc Moullet to the Nouvelle Vague. He belongs to it, but he's too funny and free for any kind of loyalty to the line."

Filmography (selection) Director / screenwriter 2003: Science Fiction (feature film), (director, screenwriter) 2009: Wallace Line (Die Liebe der Kinder) (feature film), (director, screenwriter) 2010: 24h Marrakech (anthology film), (director and screenwriter on the episode "Ordinary Seamen") 2012: Leichtmatrosen II (short film), (director, screenwriter) 2014: Worst Case Scenario (feature film), (director, screenwriter) 2015: Happy Hour (feature film), (director, screenwriter) 2023: The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Die Tagebücher von Adam und Eva), (feature film), (director, screenwriter) 2025: All That's Due (Das Glück der Tüchtigen), (feature film), (director, screenwriter)

Producer 2003: Science Fiction (feature film) 2012: Leichtmatrosen II (short film) 2014: Worst Case Scenario (feature film) 2015: Happy Hour (feature film) 2020: Notturno (co-producer) 2022: Alice Schwarzer (documentary) 2023: The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Die Tagebücher von Adam und Eva), (feature film) 2025: All That's Due (Das Glück der Tüchtigen), (feature film)

Other 2003: Kein Science Fiction (editor) 2013: That's Poland (Das ist Polen), (short film), (actor)

Awards (selection) Source: 2009: Oldenburg International Film Festival – Nomination for the German Independence Award – Best German Film for Wallace Line 2009: Oldenburg International Film Festival – Nomination for the German Independence Award – Audience Award for Wallace Line 2010: Schwerin Art of Film Festival – Prize Flying Ox in the category Best feature for Wallace Line 2010: Crossing Europe – Nomination for the Crossing Europe Award – Best Fiction Film for Wallace Line 2013: Hamburg International Short Film Festival – Nomination for the Jury Award in the German Competition for Leichtmatrosen II 2014: Oldenburg International Film Festival – Nomination for the German Independence Award – Audience Award for Worst Case Scenario 2015: Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival – Nomination for the Grand Prize for Happy Hour 2023: Austrian Film Award – Nomination for the Austrian Film Award in the category Best Documentary (Bester Dokumentarfilm) for Alice Schwarzer