BAD GIRL AVENUE

Klaus Lemke was born in Landsberg an der Warthe in 1940. He grew up in Düsseldorf; his first jobs included paving roads. He abandoned his study of art history and philosophy after three years, then worked as a directorial assistant in Munich in 1963 and 1964 under Fritz Kortner and others. He wrote for "Film" magazine, made six short films as part of the "Neue Münchner Gruppe", and soon established himself as the "King of Schwabing". In 1967, he made his first feature film, 48 STUNDEN BIS ACAPULCO. His first film for the WDR television network created a scandal in 1969: BRANDSTIFTER dealt directly with the bombing of two Frankfurt department stores by Gudrun Ensslin and Andreas Baader. The characteristics of Lemke's works include a lack of fleshed-out scripts, a gravity toward genuine and raw themes, and work with amateur actors. Lemke directed several films with Cleo Kretschmer and Wolfgang Fierek, including AMORE (1977/78), which received a Grimme Award. Lemke's film ROCKER from 1972 is considered legendary; it was filmed in Hamburg, as were DIE RATTE (1992) and DANCING WITH DEVILS (2008). SCHMUTZIGER SÜDEN (2010) was about a young man from Hamburg who aims to seduce beautiful women in Munich but must acknowledge that times have changed. FILMFEST MÜNCHEN honored Klaus Lemke in 2014 by showing a series of his Hamburg films. After UNTERWÄSCHELÜGEN (2016) and MAKING JUDITH (2017), BAD GIRL AVENUE (2018) also celebrates its world premiere in Munich.