Hildegard Knef

So oder so ist das Leben

Dokumentation 2025 58 Min.

Hildegard Knef was many things: actress, singer, author, social liberal role model, gay icon. On the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth, the film looks back on a life spent between Berlin and Hollywood – and on a biography that exemplifies post-war Germany, dealing with the public eye, and the mechanisms of a society dependent on media images.

The film features original interviews with Hildegard Knef, excerpts from films such as “Die Mörder sind unter uns” (The Murderers Are Among Us) and “Die Sünderin” (The Sinner), concert recordings, and television reports from Berlin, New York, and elsewhere.

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY

André Schäfer

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Andy Lehman
Frederick Klose-Gerlich

EDIT

Fritz Busse

SOUND

Tobias Müller
Enno Grabenhorst
Florian Beu

PRODUCER

Anna Steuber
Tabea Sperl

HEAD OF PRODUCTION

Oliver Lau

EXEC. PRODUCER

André Schäfer

COMMISS. EDITOR

Ute Hoffarth

COMMISSIONED BY

SWR

IN COLLABORATION WITH

ARTE

Coming Dec.19th 2025 on Arte and in the Arte Mediathek