Hugo Niebeling

Biography

Hugo Niebeling was born and raised in Dusseldorf. As a child, he was evacuated to the countryside during World War II. Once the war ended and he returned home, he found his parents' music store destroyed by bombs. Niebeling developed an interested in modern art, classical music and theatre, but was unable to study acting for financial reasons, and therefore enrolled in a business degree at the Mannesmann-AG in Dusseldorf. Parallel to that, he studied acting privately with Otto Strohlin, an actor at the Dusseldorf Schauspielhaus who had many pupils. Niebeling's role model was Gustaf Grundgens, a famous theatre actor.

After working as a theatre actor for a while in Augsburg, Niebeling turned to directing. In 1957 he directed his first film "Stahlerne Adern", inspired by the German experimental director Walter Ruttmann. In 1962 he created the Oscar-nominated documentary Alvorada - Brazil's Changing Face, which received numerous awards. Throughout the early 1960s he mostly worked on much-acclaimed industrial and experimental films, frequently collaborating with composer Oskar Sala. His experimental industrial film Petrol was the only West German film screened at Cannes Film Festival 1965, and went on to become one of the most awarded industrial films worldwide.

From the late 1960s on, Niebeling turned to directing mostly music- and ballet-films. In 1967, he directed a film on Beethoven's sixth symphony "Pastorale", performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In this film, he used highly experimental editing-, camera- and lighting-techniques to set the music to images. A film on Beethoven's third symphony "Eroica" that Niebeling directed in 1972 featuring the same performers was recut heavily against Niebeling's wishes on Karajan's initiative to make its style more conventional. Niebeling's director's cut of "Eroica" was released in 2010 to positive reviews. Both films were considered revolutionary in the way the visuals complement the music, and many filmic techniques pioneered in these films set trends for the following decades.

Giselle, Niebeling's first ballet-film featuring Carla Fracci, Erik Bruhn and the American Ballet Theatre, premiered in 1969 at the Lincoln Centre in New York under patronage of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was praised for its innovative visual style that complements the ballet-performance. Since the early 1970s, Niebeling often worked in New York City and directed mostly Ballet films in collaboration with the choreographer George Balanchine.

In 1991, Niebeling directed a feature-film in Germany showing the passion of Christ based on Bach's Johannespassion, evoking antique tragedy with its combination of music, language and dance. Niebeling planned it for three decades prior to realizing it, and himself considers it one of his most important works.

As of 2014, Hugo Niebeling continues to be active as a director, planning numerous new projects. In 2015, Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival awarded him with its "Award of Excellence" for artistic innovation.

My definition of art? It's mostly condensed life (...), put into a form. Art, born out of the conflict of emotions, cleared by reason, released into the form, mirroring the whole in a limited form. Released into the form because the creative process is a painful one.

Reception

A perfection of transforming music into visuals that has never been achieved again.

The Pastorale - a highlight of filmed music. This wasn't Karajan's merit, but Niebeling's!

On this level technique becomes what it originally meant in greek: Art.... Today I SAW music.

An expressionistic work of art, which equally transports the power of music and the intense effect of images.

Niebeling's experiment is a coherent masterpiece.

No technique, no angle, no method of camera transport has been left unexplored. What results is an exciting and beautiful kaleidoscope of images.

Industrial Films: Filmography and Awards

Music- and Ballett-films: Filmography and Awards

Retrospectives