Lutz Mommartz

Lutz Mommartz was a highly influential German experimental filmmaker and academic who significantly shaped the landscape of underground cinema and video art in Germany from the late 1960s until his death in 2025. Born on March 6, 1934, in Erkelenz, Mommartz relocated to Düsseldorf with his family in 1937, where he would later establish his artistic career and live for most of his life. Before dedicating himself to cinema, he worked diligently as a government inspector in Düsseldorf from 1952 to 1975, but his artistic trajectory shifted dramatically in 1967 when he abandoned painting to begin shooting 16mm films, marking the beginning of a prolific nearly six-decade career in moving image arts. His breakthrough came immediately with his 1967 film Selbstschüsse, which won a prestigious prize at the Knokke-Le-Zoute Experimental Film Festival in Belgium, establishing him as a significant voice in the European avant-garde and setting the stage for his future innovations. Throughout his career, Mommartz maintained a rigorous commitment to experimental narrative structures and documentary approaches that examined human limits, social conditions, and the nature of authenticity. This artistic vision was evidenced by collaborative works like Soziale Plastik (1969) with Joseph Beuys and his silver Federal Film Prize-winning films Beckett (1977) and The Garden of Eden (1978). In October 1975, he founded a film class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and by 1978 he had secured a full professorship in film at the Kunstakademie Münster, where he influenced generations of young filmmakers while continuing his own prolific output until his later years. His extensive filmography spans from early 8mm recordings of friends to complex video installations and digital works, including notable productions like Tango durch Deutschland (1980) and Margrets Film (2007), the latter serving as a touching cinematic tribute to his longtime partner Margret G., with whom he shared over forty-five years of life until her death in 2006. Beyond filmmaking, Mommartz was also a published author, releasing several volumes including the comprehensive Das Authentische als Kunst and the intimate correspondence collections text 2002/3 and text 2003/6, which documented his later years, online relationships, and emotional life with characteristic vulnerability and artistic integrity. He divided his time between his base in Düsseldorf and Berlin (where he lived from 2001 to 2011), continuing to work actively on securing and distributing his extensive archive until his passing on July 26, 2025, at the age of 91, leaving behind a monumental and enduring legacy in German experimental cinema.