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Erik Schmitt was born in 1980 in Mainz and grew up in Worms. After studying communication sciences in Munich, he began filming YouTube clips for an advertising agency in Berlin in 2006—an experience that sparked his passion for filmmaking. Through the agency, he learned about an ambitious project: a journey around the world in the first solar-powered car. In 2007, he joined Louis Palmer on this global expedition, starting in India, and turned the footage into the documentary "Solartaxi - Um die Welt mit der Kraft der Sonne" ("Solartaxi – Around the World with the Sun") (2010), which screened at festivals including Krakow.
At the same time, Schmitt directed several award-winning short films, including "Nicht nur der Himmel ist blau" ("How to Fly High, "2009) and "Nun sehen Sie Folgendes" (Now Follows, 2010); the latter won the German Short Film Award in 2011 and the Murnau Short Film Award in 2012.
Over the following years, Schmitt continued to make short films in a variety of styles. His 15-minute short "Nashorn im Galopp" ("Rhino Full Throttle"), a blend of stop-motion animation and live action, became a major success. It premiered in the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus section in 2013 and went on to win numerous international awards, including at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival. His next 15-minute film, "Berlin Metanoia," about a young woman who encounters an escaped bear in Berlin, also premiered in the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus section.
In 2019, Schmitt presented his first feature film in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus competition: "Cleo," a fairy-tale-like adventure story set in Berlin that reuses scenes from "Nashorn im Galopp." At the Filmkunstfest Schwerin, "Cleo" won the award for Best Children’s and Youth Film.
After further short films as well as several music videos and commercials with actor Matthias Schweighöfer, Schmitt directed his second feature film, again starring Schweighöfer: "Das Leben der Wünsche" ("The Life of Wishes"), about a man whose three wishes granted by a mysterious stranger lead to unforeseen consequences. The film premiered at the Zurich Film Festival in September 2025 and was released in German cinemas that November.