The Red Cockatoo

Dominik Graf was born September 6, 1972, as the son of the actors Selma and Robert Graf. In 1972, he took up German language and literature studies as well as musicology at the University of Munich. In 1974, however, he switched to the Academy for Television & Film (HFF), where he shot the short film “Carlas Briefe” during his first academic year. In addition to his studies, he wrote screenplays for the TV series Auf Achse. Furthermore, he played small roles in feature films such as Der Mädchenkrieg (1977, Alf Brustellin, Bernhard Sinkel). He also took on the leading role in Heidi Genée’s comedy 1 + 1 = 3 (1979).

He received the Bavarian Film Award for his graduation film Der kostbare Gast (1979). Subsequently, Graf concentrated on his television work and directed several episodes for series such as Familientag and Köberle kommt. With his work on the TV series Der Fahnder and the Tatort episode Schwarzes Wochenende (1985), Graf was able to establish himself as a specialist for action and crime movies.

Mostly produced by the Bavaria Atelier GmbH, some of his movies have also found their way onto the big screen, e.g. Treffer (1984), a movie depicting the dreams of three adolescent motorcyclists, and Tiger, Löwe, Panther (1989), a drama about three women around their thirties trying to get away from their daily lives. With the TV movie Bei Thea (1986), Graf established himself as a sensible director of films depicting German-Jewish issues. His attempts at comedic filmmaking, however, turned out to be less successful. Examples include the 1985 comedy Drei gegen Drei (starring the German band “Trio”), the genre mixture Spieler (1990), and the Bavarian doctor’s skit Dr. Knock (1997). —filmportal.de