Her past and present students describe Ula Stoeckl as sweet and classy. Stoeckl blushes when she hears this.
麻豆精品 S淵ou never know what someone will remember, 麻豆精品 S� she says in a quiet and distinct German accent. She just returned to the UCF campus from a month-long celebration of her filmmaking career in Europe from Munich and Berlin, Germany, to Vienna, Austria. While some of her films received awards, recognition for her whole body of work had been long overdue, as can be deduced from a casual conversation with the聽UCF film professor.
Listen to Stoeckl. The woman who recently celebrated her 80th birthday has much to share, but only if you ask. And if you consume what she is saying with all of your senses, as if experiencing one of her films, you are transported into her shoes literally walking through fire as a child and then blazing new paths for women.
Birth and Death in World War II-era Germany
You cannot ignore the birthplace and birth year on Stoeckl’s bio: Ulm, Germany, 1938. Mention World War II and Ula remembers details. Like Dec. 17, 1944.
麻豆精品 S淢y family was bombed out that day, completely. I remember so vividly, how we came out of the basement and ran through the burning city, me with my mother and my one remaining sibling. 麻豆精品 S�
The following March they were bombed again.
麻豆精品 S淚 can clearly see an American soldier holding my sister in his arms, saying, 麻豆精品 S楧on 麻豆精品 S檛 die, little girl. Please, don 麻豆精品 S檛 die. 麻豆精品 S� And I still feel how it felt, to lose your sense of belonging in just seconds 麻豆精品 S� your home, your community, your family. I was the only child of four to survive the disease and explosions. I 麻豆精品 S檓 still working through it to this day. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淚 was the only child of four to survive the disease and explosions. I 麻豆精品 S檓 still working through it to this day. 麻豆精品 S�
In the years after the war, everyone who was impacted did whatever it took to forget. No one talked about it. Stoeckl’s parents tried to replace the disturbing mental pictures with pleasant movie images. 麻豆精品 S淲e went to the theater all the time because it was cheap and warm and you could escape. That 麻豆精品 S檚 when I fell in love with film, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
Finding a Future in Filmmaking
At first, she wanted to be an actress. But then something clicked about the idea of actually developing the stories. She could write and direct films to show the types of emotions that are impossible to tell. This would become her creative outlet for the sentiments she 麻豆精品 S檇 experienced as a 6-year-old in war-imploded Germany.
But Stoeckl’s path into film would lead her into another huge challenge that would provide additional inspiration for her award-winning work and reveal her quiet intensity.
Those mental images that her mother and father lovingly hoped to snuff out after the war would never go away, and they would actually embolden Stoeckl 麻豆精品 S� then and now. 麻豆精品 S淭hose memories made me determined to change things 麻豆精品 S� anything 麻豆精品 S� for the better, however I could, 麻豆精品 S� she says. As she considers this, she says, 麻豆精品 S淢aybe I 麻豆精品 S檓 tougher than I realized. 麻豆精品 S�
It took a balance of toughness and patience when she became the first woman to be accepted into Germany 麻豆精品 S檚 Institute for Filmmaking in 1962. And it took more of the same as she created 23 films from concept to closing credits.
麻豆精品 S淭he old-school filmmakers did not want young people in their world, especially women. I knew that, and it only made me work harder. The truth is, it 麻豆精品 S檚 still an uphill challenge for women in the film world. We have been told it doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 matter if a film is made by a man or woman, but that 麻豆精品 S檚 false. 麻豆精品 S�
40 Years of Films on the Silver Screen
This explains why, when crowds sold out the venues in Germany to see a retrospective of Stoeckl’s聽work in February, they were watching a few films that no one had ever seen. With no support for distribution or financing, these films had been buried 40 years or more.
麻豆精品 S淚t was very special to see them for the first time in a public theater, and to see the reaction to them, 麻豆精品 S� Stoeckl says. 麻豆精品 S淚 thought about what my father told me when I was young: 麻豆精品 S楧o not let people tell you what a girl can or cannot do. 麻豆精品 S� That 麻豆精品 S檚 why I love teaching. 麻豆精品 S�
Stoeckl still has plenty of goals. For one, she has 200 hours of raw film waiting to be edited into another feature or documentary, and she wants to teach for as long as possible. 麻豆精品 S淚 strive to understand how young people see the world, so I can enable them to show their emotions and issues in the films they will make. 麻豆精品 S�
In typical Stoeckl humility, she says nothing about the reverse 麻豆精品 S� wanting young people to understand how she sees the world, or why. But if you ask, and if you really listen, you will hear a first-hand perspective with all the power of a great film.
More than a story, it 麻豆精品 S檚 an experience.
