Films by Sylvie Kürsten

Germany 2022, 53 min
by Sylvie Kürsten

Hardly anyone knows the artist, but almost everyone knows her paintings: Tamara de Lempicka, icon of the 20s. Her Art Déco paintings of women in cars or in evening dress adorn book covers, break auction records. But who has she been? The arte documentary by Grimme Prize-winning author Sylvie Kürsten ventures a self-portrait of Lempicka, narrated and played by German theater grande dame Nicole Heesters. She is commented anecdotally and knowledgeably by a documentary cast, e.g. great-granddaughter

Germany 2020, 52 min
by Sylvie Kürsten

At the beginning of the 20th century there were two celebrated liberators of music who were the complete opposite of each other: the stylishly nonchalant Igor Stravinsky who revolutionized the musical field from the rhythm-section on the one hand – and on the other the smart and world-weary Arnold Schoenberg with his visionary 12-tone-music. What started as a respectful meeting of two composers soon turned into a bitter rivalry that led to a fundamental debate about progress and truth in music.

Germany 2018, 416 min
by Julie Kirchhoff, Sylvie Kürsten, Ralf Pleger, Kurt Mayer

THE ART OF MUSEUMS is not a classic documentary series about galleries displaying dusty old paintings. These films trace the turbulent biographies of each museum, from their survival of wars to their visions for the future. The museums have witnessed fierce battles and great triumphs. Their lives are full of intrigue, hope and celebration—moments inscribed in their histories. We tell these stories through a multitude of perspectives, from exclusive archive material, to interviews with museum dir

2016, 156 min
by Sylvie Kürsten, Andreas Gräfenstein, Henrike Sandner

The documentary series tells the stories behind the most significant developments in art history that very often result from the fierce competition of genial masters of a single generation. We introduce the great antagonists in art and the artistic hotspots that developed through their rivalries. By showing the duels between the two artists we offer the audience a unique understanding of the master craftsmen and an entirely new perspective on their work.Dramaturgically, the narrative of the duel