Jan Schütte

Having begun his filmmaking career making documentaries, it is not surprising that director Jan Schutte's fictional features are realistic and centered on current social issues. Schutte emerged as a documentary director in 1982 after a liberal arts background in college. His documentary credits include Verloren in Amerika and Nach Patagonien. He made an auspicious feature-film debut with Drachenfutter/Dragonfood (1987), the story of a Pakistani immigrant struggling to survive in a multicultural German neighborhood. It won three major awards, the Premio Cinecritica, the German Film Critics' Prize and the Prix Francois Truffaut. Schutte's third feature Auf Wiedersehen Amerika/Goodbye America (1994) was shown at Cannes. It also received a German Film Prize in Silver and Bavarian Film Prize. In 1997, he released Fette Welt/Fat World, a tragicomic look at a homeless youth who discovers first love and is inspired to try to pull his life together.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide