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Franz Rogowski was born in Freiburg in 1986. He studied drama and dance in Stuttgart, Berlin, Switzerland and Austria. Since 2007, he has performed in numerous stage productions, among them "Megalopolis" and "protect me" at the Schaubühne in Berlin. He also worked at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, the Théâtre National in Brussels and the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin.
Rogowski first worked as a choreographer on the production of Jakob Lass' 2009 short ""Them Brakes", before appearing as an actor in Lass' "Frontalwatte" and Jan Bachmann's "UH, it's great here!".
"Love Steaks" (2013) – again directed by Jakob Lass – marked Rogowski's first leading role in a feature-length release. He plays masseur Clemens, who works at a wellness resort and madly falls in love with female chef Lara (Lana Cooper). The film won numerous awards, including the Max-Ophüls-Preis, and Rogowski himself took home the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino for Best Actor.
In 2014, Rogowski played an important supporting role as an inscrutable school janitor in the TV crime movie "Polizeiruf 110: Hexenjagd" (Director: Angelina Maccarone). He also starred in a leading role in Sebastian Schipper's highly acclaimed and multi-award winning drama "Victoria", which premiered at the Berlinale in 2015. In it, Rogowski played one of four friends who decide to rob a bank after a party night out. Also in 2015, he starred in a supporting role in the TV movie "Besuch für Emma" about a lonely widow in Berlin. The drama "Uns geht es gut" premiered in autumn 2015 with Rogowski in a leading role as one in a group of friends that aimlessly wander through the city on an extremely hot summer day.
"Tiger Girl" premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale 2017, after "Frontalwatte" and "Love Steaks" marking the third collaboration between Rogowski and director Jakob Lass. In the completion of the Cannes film festival 2017, Rogowksi could be seen in Michael Haneke's "Happy End" (FR/DE/AT) as the depressive son of a well-off French family. Shortly after, he starred in Christian Petzold's free adaptation of the Anna Seghers' novel "Transit", which premiered in the Competition of the Berlinale 2017. Also, Thomas Stuber’s tragic-comic drama "In den Gängen" with Rogowski in the male lead role, premiered at the Berlinale 2017. Fittingly, Rogowski belonged to the "European Shooting Stars" introduced at the Berlinale 2018.
Shortly after, for his performance in "In den Gängen", he was awarded with the Deutscher Filmpreis 2018. For "In den Gängen" as well as "Transit" he received the Günter-Rohrbach-Filmpreis.
In January 2019 Rogowski received the Ulrich Wildgruber Prize, a theatre prize promoting young actors. On the big screen Rogowski was part of the ensemble of Angela Schanelec's "Ich war zuhause, aber" ("I Was at Home, But"), which premiered in the Competition of the Berlinale 2019. Three months later, Terrence Malick's eagerly awaited drama "A Hidden Life" (US/DE), in which Rogowski had a minor supporting role as best friend of August Diehl's main character, was shown in the Cannes Competition.
Two films starring Franz Rogowski were screened at the Berlinale 2020: In the Competition Christian Petzold's modern myth interpretation "Undine" (DE/FR), and in the Panorama section Uisenma Borchu's semi-autobiographical sister story "Schwarze Milch" ("Black Milk", DE/MN).
In 2021, he appeared in a total of four films on the big screen: On July 8, Sebastian Meise's "Grosse Freiheit" ("Great Freedom") premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. The drama about a gay man imprisoned for his predisposition and a convicted murderer, between whom an intimate friendship develops in prison, screened at nearly 30 international, often prestigious festivals until the end of 2021 alone, and won numerous awards. For his portrayal of the gay lead character, Rogowski won Best Actor awards at both the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Seville European Film Festival. In November 2021, the critically acclaimed film had its official theatrical release in Germany.
Also on July 8, "Heikos Welt" ("Heiko's World") - described on the crowdfunding website as "a film about beer, darts and mother love" - premiered at the Munich Film Festival with Rogowski in a small supporting role.
Only shortly after the premiere of these two films, the Austrian exorcism drama "Luzifer" premiered at the film festical in Locarno in August 2021. In the film, Rogoswski starred as a learning-disabled adult man who lives with his devout mother in a secluded alpine cabin that becomes the scene of ominous events. He was awarded Best Actor for his performance at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas and at the Sitges Film Festival International de Cinema Fantastic.
Then, in early September 2021, the fantasy film "Freaks Out" premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival. In the Italian-Belgian co-production, four carnies try to fend off the German occupying forces. Franz Rogowski played the supporting role of a clairvoyant, six-fingered German pianist and also received the Best Actor award for this performance at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.