Personal Info
Known For
Gender
Birthday
Place of Birth
Jan-Christopher Horak
Known for
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
Marilyn, Her Final Secret
Thanks to DNA, this documentary establishes the identity of Marilyn's biological father, thus revealing her new paternal family, 60 years after the icon's death.
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.
The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
The history of Frankenstein's journey from novel to stage to screen to icon.
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Starting with "The Wolf Man" (in 1941), Universal Studios made five movies featuring The Wolf Man, a character portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr. Monster by Moonlight! explores these movies. Rick Baker explains how the make-up was done on Chaney's character. Screenwriter Curtis Siodmak took very little from earlier werewolf legends, providing his own story for some of the films. This documentary displays clips from several other movies, including "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and "House of Dracula" (1945).
Lost Forever: The Art of Film Preservation
This documentary short takes you inside the fascinating world of film preservation and restoration.
Alexander Granach - Da geht ein Mensch
Erich Maria Remarque und Marlene Dietrich - Flucht in die Liebe
In his second international bestseller, "Arc de Triomphe," author Erich Maria Remarque explores his own experience of exile and his decisive encounter with Marlene Dietrich. From Paris and Antibes to Los Angeles and New York, the documentary traces the moving genesis of this highly autobiographical novel, now considered a major work of European exile literature, and the literary legacy of the long-standing passion between two global stars.
Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz
Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt tries to show the background and developments and speaks, among others, with directors such as Richard Fleischer and Robert Wise as well as with "femme fatale" actresses. Filmmakers of the following generations explain how the style and themes of noir continue to shape cinema today.
The Road to 'Dracula'
A documentary from Universal about the movie "Dracula" (1931) starring Bela Lugosi.
Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood
Featuring interviews with daughter Nicola Lubitsch, film historians Enno Patalas and Jan-Christopher Horak and filmmaker Tom Tykwer (among others), Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin documents the life of the legendary filmmaker from his birth in 1892 to his departure for Hollywood in 1923. The documentary is sprinkled with excerpts from Lubitsch's rarely-seen early work (both as actor and director) and offers fascinating insights into the German film industry in the silent era.
Lex Barker - Westernheld und Playboy
He is the most sought-after man in Europe in the 1960s. Lex Barker embodies the flawless hero in his films and, as Old Shatterhand, becomes a role model for generations of fans. Revered in Europe, misunderstood and almost forgotten in his native America. But who was this American who rode through Yugoslavia in a leather costume for the European audience? In 1973, Lex Barker died of a heart attack on the streets of Manhattan in New York. But no one recognizes the man who was Tarzan in Hollywood. Nobody knows him or cares about that he, as Winnetou's friend, is revered as an icon in Europe. Lex Barker's European western adventures are just a footnote in American film history. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, the documentary tells the story of one of the most beautiful men who ever flickered across Europe's cinema screens, for whom European cinema proved to be a stroke of luck and for whom a failed Hollywood career took him via Italy to Germany.