Used to be banned from entering China because of his film Sieben Jahre in Tibet (1997). But years later, he was hired to direct the Chinese-French co-production Der letzte Wolf (2015) and had his ban lifted.
Duell: Enemy at the Gates (2001) is a film about duels and duality,
about contrasts and extremes. The event is minuscule, but the
propaganda makes it extremely important. Two individuals track each
other in the midst of millions who are dying, but the focus is on these
two. The smallest part is only one little piece of the large canvas,
but it consequently becomes the central symbol of the whole.
