Dirk Wilutzky

Producer Dirk Wilutzky first gained attention in the United States when "Citizenfour" (2014), the documentary he produced with director Laura Poitras, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The veteran filmmaker was born in Herleshausen, Germany. After studying philosophy at Tübingen University, he began work as an assistant director at Eisenach State Theatre in 1991. He would stay with the theater until 1993, when his focus changed from theater to film. Wilutzky relocated to Berlin and began learning the ropes of the movie and TV business, and soon became intimately familiar with the behind-the-scenes machinations of the industry, working as a production manager for projects like the TV series "Wolff's Turf" (Sat.1, 1992-2006) and "Der Clown" (RTL, 1998-2001). Moving up the ranks, Wilutzky eventually became a production executive at Studio Babelsberg. As Wilutzky gained experience and connections, he became more and more able to pursue projects that he felt strongly about. He proudly served as production manager for the Michael Moore documentary "Bowling for Columbine" (2002), and was a producer for such socially conscious films as "Soul Boy" (2010) and "Und wir sind nicht die einzigen" (2011). When it came time to produce "Citizenfour" (2014), which profiled the infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden, Wilutzky used his experience to help facilitate the movie being edited in his native Germany, where there were many laws in place to protect journalists and filmmakers dealing with legally murky subject matter. The film was edited by Wilutzky's wife, Mathilde Bonnefoy, with whom he had worked before.