Film director Jan Schmidt-Garre studied conducting (with Sergiu Celibidache), philosophy and film and was a volunteer and assistant director with, among others, Ponnelle and Kupfer, at several theaters and at the Salzburg Festival. His films include Bruckners Entscheidung, Celibidache, which won a Silver Medal at the Chicago Film Festival and was nominated for the German Film Prize, and the series The Tenors of the 78 Era. The Joseph Schmidt episode received Special Jury Mention at the Musée du Louvre’s 1998 “Classique en images” international film competition. The series is being shown on TV in many European countries. Portions of it are to be seen on WNET in New York.
Opera Fanatic: Stefan and the Divas has been screened at the Prague International Film Festival, where it won second prize out of 120 entries, the Munich International Documentary Film Festival, where it won a prize, the Leipzig Documentary Film Festival and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.
In July it will be shown at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The Bavarian State Opera will screen the film on July 28 at Munich’s Cuvilliés-Theater with Frazzoni, Pobbe, Simionato and Zucker as guests of honor. They will be interviewed.
The film is now being broadcast in Finland (on YLE), Norway (on NRK) and Poland (on PT).