Bernhard Landen was born in Wolfsburg in 1971. After graduating from school, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he studied film at the University of Southern California. His short "Killer" (1998), starring Axel Milberg and Heike Makatsch, premiered at the Hofer Filmtage and also screend in the short film competition of the Max Ophüls Preis Festival. During the following years, he directed several award-winning commercials, helmed an episode of the TV series "Geisterjäger John Sinclair" (2000, TV), and made the short "Fallin Inside". With co-director Judith Angerbauer, Landen then completed his first feature-length film "Sonnwende". The film about a teenage girl who suffers from the psychological side effects of an accident premiered at the 2013 Max Ophüls Preis Festival and was released theatrically in Germany in December 2013.