Lutz Reitemeier

Lutz Reitemeier is an internationally renowned German cinematographer specializing in feature films and documentaries. He has received multiple nominations and awards, including the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

His distinctive and sensitive visual language combines documentary authenticity with narrative precision, creating atmospheric spaces that reveal cultures and emotions with subtlety and care — in Europe, Asia, and beyond.

After film school and working at Atlantic Film Hamburg, Reitemeier spent several years as a camera assistant, working under mentors including Werner Herzog and Roland Emmerich. In 1990, he assisted Emmerich on Moon 44. He subsequently spent formative years working with Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein, Werner Herzog’s longtime cinematographer and one of the most influential figures of New German Cinema. This intensive mentorship had a lasting influence on the development of Reitemeier’s visual approach.

Since 1994, Lutz Reitemeier has worked independently as a cinematographer, both nationally and internationally.

His early documentaries, including The Survivors (Die Überlebenden) and Beyond Tibet(Jenseits von Tibet), laid the foundation for his career. His collaboration with Chinese director Wang Quan’an led to the internationally acclaimed Berlinale successes Tuya’s Marriage(Tuyas Hochzeit), which won the Golden Bear, and Apart Together (Tuan Yuan), which received the Silver Bear. For White Deer Plain, Reitemeier was awarded the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in cinematography. Wadjda, which received the Audience Award in Venice, as well as several of his other films, went on to reach the shortlist for the Academy Awards.

In 2023, Reitemeier served as a member of the jury at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Reitemeier is a member of the German Film Academy, the German Society of Cinematographers (BVK), and AG DOK, the German Documentary Association. As a highly regarded lecturer, he shares his extensive international experience and his culturally sensitive artistic approach with the next generation of filmmakers.