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CORDULA STADTER

Writer / Director
documentary

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I am a writer/director with 15 years+ experience, a strong fascination for stories and an eye for visual storytelling.
 
My passion for stories and the existential questions reflected in them brought me to Berlin and Erlangen to study theater and media studies and philosophy, and finally to Argentina, to the Universidad del Cine (Buenos Aires) to film directing. I am fluent in Spanish, French and English.
 
Following various freelance works on films in Argentina and Germany, I joined the award-winning production company Gebrüder Beetz in Hamburg as a producer for international prime-time documentaries.
 
Since 2013 I have been self-employed as an author/director with my company "cocomotions"  and have since then realized several dozen reports and documentaries all over the world for public broadcasters, mainly ZDF, ARTE, NDR and SWR.

I am particularly interested in new dramaturgical and visual challenges. No sensationalism, but meaningful pictures - and stories. 

willkommen: Über mich

Among other programmes, I have been directing films since 2019 on a regular basis
for the documentary series ZDF plan b and ARTE Re. 
Below is a selection of my current films:

willkommen: Zitat

CRISIS CLEVER
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS

ZDF Plan b (30min, 2022) / ARTE Re (33min, 2022)

Pandemics, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or landslides - disasters are increasing. That's why people around the world are working on clever early warning systems in order to save lives.

EMISSION-FREE INTO THE FUTURE
HYDROGEN FOR ENERGY TRANSITION

ZDF Plan b (30min, 2022) / ARTE Re (33min, 2022)

Independence from oil and gas, ideally climate-neutral. Hydrogen fuels this vision. But the technology was neglected for a long time. Now pioneers are taking off.

willkommen: HTML-Einbettung

NEW SOUNDS
MUSIC INDUSTRY GOES SUSTAINABLE

ZDF plan b (30min, 2022)

What would summer be without music? But a concert swallows a lot of energy: water, catering, equipment. Not to mention the garbage that visitors produce. Isn't there another way?

willkommen: HTML-Einbettung
willkommen: HTML-Einbettung


Films for other partners, such as:
ARTE 360° Report (formerly known as GEO Reportage), SWR, ZDFinfo, NDR, MDR, Servus TV

Albania: The Shepherd's Voices
01:29
360 Grad Reportage (52/30min, ARTE, 2022)

Albania: The Shepherd's Voices

Bastri Limoj is a shepherd in the South-Albanian village Vranisht. Every summer he and a group of friends lead their animals up the mountains to the summer pastures, just as their ancestors did it for centuries wandering the whole Balkans with their flocks. However, during communist times all over Albania flocks were seized by the state leading to a rapid decline of this tradition. Nowadays, shepherds like Bastri have regained private property and livestock, but face the challenges of modern times. Bastri's youngest son Lucjano wanted to follow in his fathers' footstep, but was forced to leave the village for higher education in the city. As a mechanical engineer he comes back to help his dad as often as he can. But can he still imagine to continue the tradition and lead a shepherd's life for himself?
Germany's Sausages - What exactly do we eat?
01:39
SWR betrifft (45min, 2021)

Germany's Sausages - What exactly do we eat?

Germany is the home of sausage. Nowhere else in the world is the variety bigger and people eat that much sausage: 30 kilos per person/per year! The majority is not produced by handicraft butchers, but in huge factories, its taste, feel and look designed by the food industry. This documentary seeks answers to the question: What exactly do we eat?
The Golden Voices of Singapore
01:18
GEO Reportage (52/43min, ARTE, 2020)

The Golden Voices of Singapore

A bird as expensive as a car or even a house. This is reality among Singapore's bird lovers. The more beautiful the song of a bird, the higher its value. This status is reflected at the city's numerous bird singing contests. But there is also a downside to this "sport": the illegal trade with wild birds. Cordula Stadter teams up with environmental activists and bird breeders to explore this controversial tradition.
Nepal: The Curing Sound of Singing Bowls
01:23
GEO Reportage (52/43min, ARTE, 2019)

Nepal: The Curing Sound of Singing Bowls

They are forged with fire, metal and sweat - bowls that are said to have healing powers: the so-called "singing bowls"! Generations of healers all around the world trust in their vibrations - dealing with chronic pain, migraine and even with pregnancy. Their origins are in Nepal's bustling capital Kathmandu, where the metal bowls have been the source of meditation for generations. But does the promise of their healing power actually hold true?
Germany's Döner - What exactly do we eat?
01:33
SWR betrifft (45min, 2018)

Germany's Döner - What exactly do we eat?

Döner Kebap is fast food number one in Germany. Approximately 16.000 Döner restaurants are there in the country. Their turnover exceeds several millions of Euros. The film focuses on the success story of this fast food classic and examines on the backdrop of the rotten meat scandals of the past if this is still a problem of the industry today. What exactly is it that we eat?
The German Army and its Ministers of Defence
00:27
ZDFinfo (6x45min, 2016)

The German Army and its Ministers of Defence

This 6-episode series focuses on the history of the German Army, called "Die Bundeswehr", told from the character-driven perspective of selected Ministers of Defence. The three episodes about Franz-Josef Strauß, Manfred Wörner and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg were realized by author/director Cordula Stadter - presenting, among other stunning accesses, the first long TV-interview with Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg after his withdrawal from government in 2011.
Cocos Island - Paradise for sharks!?
01:22
GEO Reportage (52/43min, ARTE, 2016)

Cocos Island - Paradise for sharks!?

Cocos Island, approximately 400miles off Costa Rica's Pacific Coast is considered a paradise for sharks. Schools of hammerheads and various individuals of the notorious tiger shark call the island their home. But the hunters themselves are hunted down mercilessly. The shark fin trade has become a flourishing business and drives the predators close to the brink of extinction. Marine biologists Andrès and Ilena Zanella keep up the fight against illegal "finning" and for more marine reserves. This film accompanies them with their mission.
The Four Seasons
01:11
gebrueder beetz filmproduktion (20x45min, 2015 / MDR, SWR, NDR/Arte, ServusTV)

The Four Seasons

Four Seasons explores central Europe and its long forgotten traditions, revives customs and myths, and shows our native countryside from unfamiliar perspectives. Fascinating landscape photography in high quality HD, paired with spectacular Cineflex aerial photography, presents the nature and inhabitants of central Europe in never-before-seen richness of color. As the seasons change we visit different environments which, in their variety, are exemplary of a central European region: mountains, water, forests and meadows. We return to each of these habitats four times during the different seasons to show the way in which our protagonists' rhythm of life beats to the clockwork of nature. Cordula Stadter as an author/director is responsible for the episodes in France.
Mysterious Marinas: Longyearbean
02:45
gebrueder beetz filmproduktion (5x45min, ARTE, 2012)

Mysterious Marinas: Longyearbean

All mayor discoveries in history started on board of a ship – off to new shores, off to new ports. According to this motto, we set out to explore five showcase marinas located on some of the world’s not only most picturesque, but also strategically important coastlines. It is not about mega-ports and their big logistics, it is the hidden marinas, from where we open up the view to a grand panorama discovering their backwaters. Wild, untouched nature, ever vibrant ancient culture, and unique biographies Cordula Stadter co-developed this international series as a producer and co-directed the episode about Spitzbergen together with Frode Mo.
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