In primary school, he wanted to become a wildlife filmmaker. Having grown up in a small Bavarian village where whoever drove a Bavarian-made car was considered to have made it in life, he moved to Berlin where he began to make his first documentaries and also worked as a radio reporter. He financed his studies at film schools in Berlin and Munich by working as a night porter. His grandfather was a steelworker at a foundry where his salary was enough to feed seven children and enabled him to eventually afford an Audi A3.

Source: 70. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)