Bernd Eichinger ✝

Bernd Eichinger (German: [bɛʁnt ˈaɪ.̯çɪŋ.ɐ] (listen); 11 April 1949 – 24 January 2011) was a German film producer, director, and screenwriter. Eichinger was born in Neuburg an der Donau. He attended the University of Television and Film Munich in the 1970s and bought a stake in the fledgling studio company Neue Constantin Film in 1979, becoming its executive director. Under his leadership, Constantin Film evolved into one of the most successful German film businesses. As of 2005, he was chairman of the supervisory board and still owned a substantial stake in the company. Eichinger also produced some movies independently (for example, Downfall). One of Eichinger's last films was about the left-wing terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) and based on the book Der Baader Meinhof Komplex ("The Baader-Meinhof Complex") by Stefan Aust. The range of genres of films, for television and the big screen, was unusually varied. He produced a 3D zombie movie, Resident Evil: Afterlife; to Atomised, a film adaptation of novel by French star writer and social critic Michel Houellebecq. He was an incredibly prolific film maker, with almost 100 films to his credit.