Biography
Karsten Dahlem was born in 1975 in Limburg, Germany. After graduating from high school in 1995, he began training with the riot police, which he discontinued the following year in order to study law. A student job as a stage technician awakened his interest in theater work: in 1998 he began studying acting at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. While still a student, Dahlem made his debut in front of the camera with a small role in the TV crime thriller "Schimanski muss leiden" (2000).
After graduating in 2002, he worked primarily in the theater, with permanent engagements at the Volkstheater in Vienna, the Munich Volkstheater and the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, among others. He has also appeared on stage at the Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Berlin Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz and the Maxim Gorki Theater. In addition to acting, Dahlem soon devoted himself to directing and adapting novels for the stage. His numerous productions (often as author) include "Moby Dick" at the Landestheater Linz (2009), "Tschick" at the Theater Oberhausen (2013) and "Heute bin ich blond" at the Staatstheater Nürnberg (2015).
In addition to his extensive theater work, Dahlem also appeared in several television productions until 2010, mostly in guest roles in series such as "Der Ermittler" (2004), "SOKO Wismar" (2007) and "Tatort" (2008). He had a regular supporting role in the telenovela "Das Geheimnis meines Vaters" (2006). On the big screen, he starred in the horror thriller "Lieben" (2006) as a necrophiliac serial killer who one day meets the mother of one of his victims.
As a screenwriter (together with director Stephan Lacant), Dahlem achieved great success with "Freier Fall" ("Free Fall", 2013): In the story of a married police officer's coming out and falling in love with a male colleague, Dahlem also processed observations of homophobia and bullying during his own time with the riot police. "Freier Fall" was screened at numerous international festivals prior to its theatrical release and received outstanding reviews and a number of awards.
Dahlem made his directorial debut with the award-winning short "Princess" (2017), about an 11-year-old thug who unexpectedly finds himself dressed as a princess with one of his victims on the school stage. Again with Stephan Lacant, he wrote the screenplay for the latter's directorial work "Fremde Tochter" ("Strange Daughter", 2017), the story of a rebellious 17-year-old who wants to convert to Islam out of love for a young Arab. This film also received very positive reviews and several awards.
Nevertheless, Dahlem's main field of activity remains the theater. At the Staatstheater Oldenburg, he directed "Michael Kohlhaas" (2017) and "Romeo and Juliet" (2019), and at the Schauspiel Essen, among others, "Auerhaus" (2018), "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf" (2020), "Nathan der Weise" (2021), and "Das Fest" (2022).
At the Hof Film Festival in October 2022, Karsten Dahlem presented his first feature film as writer and director, "Die Geschichte einer Familie" ("Crash"). The father-daughter story won the Hof Gold Award as well as the Best Actress Award (Anna Maria Mühe) at the Bavarian Film Awards 2023. The film was theatrically released in June 2023.
In addition to his work as a writer and director, Karsten Dahlem teaches at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and the Zurich University of the Arts.