Rick Minnich
Rhinower Str. 8
10437 Berlin, Germany
Tel./Fax: 011-49-30-473 30 13
Mobile: 011-49-179-7911131
e-mail: rick@rickfilms.de
www.rickfilms.de
www.forgettingdad.com

Biography
1968 Born in Pomona, California
1988-90 Internship at film distributor Kino International, New York
1989 Semester abroad at Institute for European Studies, Vienna, extensive travels throughout Europe especially Eastern Europe
1990 B.A. in English literature from Columbia University, New York
Internship as camera assistant for Latvian Television in Riga
1991-1992 Graduate studies in the School of Film and Video at CalArts
1995-2001 Graduate Studies in the directing program at the Hochschule für Film & Fernsehen “Konrad Wolf,” Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany
1993-97 Free-lancer responsible for making documentary trailers for Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin
since 1997 Freelance film and translation work
2002 Director of the SAT.1 series “So gesehen” (German television) 30 x 3’
2003 Participant in the Berlinale Talent Campus

Selected Filmography
1993 DELPHI 1830, experimental film, 16mm, color, 3'
1994 Next Time Everything Will Be Better ("Beim nächsten mal wird alles besser") fiction, 16mm, color, 9'
1993-96 The Book of Lenins, documentary, 16mm, color & b/w, 24’
1996 Untitled Picture ("Bild ohne Titel"), fiction, 35mm, Dolby SR, color, 4’, ARTE/HFF
1997 Good Guys & Bad Guys, doc., S16, Dolby SR, col., 73’, HFF/ORB
2001 Heaven on Earth, doc., S16, Dolby SR, col., 52’, HFF/Hoferichter / Jacobs GmbH
2005 Homemade Hillbilly Jam, doc. S16, col., 80’, Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH
2008 Forgetting Dad, doc., HDCam, 83’, ZDF / Rickfilms / Hoferichter & Jacobs

Awards, Grants, Residencies (selection)
1992 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) grant
1995 Writer’s grant, Schloss Wiepersdorf, Germany
1997 Honorable mention, DokLeipzig; Rector’s Prize, HFF “Konrad Wolf”
1998 Jury prize, Cinarchea Int’l Archeology Film Festival Kiel, Germany; Bronze Plaque, Columbus Int’l Film & Video Festival (The Chris Awards)
2001 Babelsberg Media Prize–Best Graduation Film (doc.) in Germany
Hans W. Geissendoerfer Young Talent Award (Germany)
Bronze Plaque, Columbus Int’l Film & Video Festival (The Chris Awards) Audience Award,
Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival
Special Prize of the European Film Schools Jury, SEE Docs in Dubrovnik Nominated for the IDA/David L. Wolper Student Doc. Achievement Award
Nominated for the German Cinematography Award
2002 FIPA d’0r (1st prize), FIPA TV Festival, Biarritz, France
2005 Prize of the State Film Service Rheinland-Pfalz, 22nd Video/Filmtage Koblenz (Germany)
2006 Artist residency at the Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, California
2007 Development grant from the DEFA-Stiftung, Berlin
2008 Special Jury Award, Joris Ivens Competition – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA
2009 Honorable Mention – Achtung Berlin – New Berlin Film Award
Audience Award – Ippokrates International Health Film Festival, Kos (Greece)
William Dieterle Filmpreis (Special Prize), Germany
Grand Jury Prize, GZDOC, Guangzhou (China)