German film industry mourns passing of Frank Giering at 38

The German film community is in a state of shock after the news of actor Frank Giering’s death at the age of 38 in Berlin on Wednesday evening.

Magdeburg-born Giering studied Acting at the Academy for Film & Television “Konrad Wolf” (HFF) in Babelsberg and first appeared on stage at the Staatstheater in Cottbus.

He was discovered by Michael Haneke in the TV film Der Verräter and subsequently cast in two of the Austrian filmmaker’s films, the Franz Kafka adaptation The Castle (Das Schloss) and Funny Games. Giering’s role as one of two young men terrorising a family brought him to the attention of international audiences.

Another memorable role was the part of Floyd in Sebastian Schipper’s feature debut Gigantic (Absolute Giganten) which is regarded by many as one of the most important German films of the last 20 years.

Giering played the title role of the terrorist Andreas Baader in Christopher Roth’s 2002 Berlinale competition film Baader and was also the male lead in Romuald Karmakar’s Nightsongs which premiered in the Berlinale competition in 2004.

Apart from film roles, Giering had also appeared opposite Christian Berkel in the TV crime series Der Kriminalist since 2006 and had been shooting a new season at the time of his untimely death.