Rainer Kölmel

Rainer Kölmel studied history at the Universities of Munich and Heidelberg were he did his PhD on a Holocaust subject. He taught at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh and Edinburgh University from 1974 until 1989 during which time he also worked for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Together with his brother Michael he was involved in Kinowelt from its foundation in 1984, when he was first in charge of acquisition and television sales. Among the hundreds of films he acquired one can find titles like THE ENGLISH PATIENT and MARCH OF THE PENGUINS.

Kinowelt went public in 1998 and Rainer Kölmel was on the board of directors. Having reached a dominant position as an independent in Germany, Kinowelt became the victim of the downturn in the German media business and went insolvent in 2001. In January 2003, Rainer Kölmel and his brother bought back the core business of Kinowelt Medien AG and moved the company from Munich to Leipzig. Kinowelt again became a leading independent in the German market. The company was sold to Studio Canal in 2008.

In 1994, Rainer Kölmel founded Kinowelt Filmproduktion GmbH which in May 2003 became a subsidiary of Starhaus Produktionen GmbH based in Munich. Kinowelt Filmproduktion changed its name to Starhaus Filmproduktion in July 2008.

Starhaus Filmproduktion is focused on producing and co-producing feature films and documentaries like István Szabó's SUNSHINE, Todd Louiso's LOVE LIZA, Ben Verbong's THE SLURB, Dominik Wessely's REVERSE SHOT- REBELLION OF THE FILMMAKERS, Mika Kaurismäki's MAMA AFRICA and Julian Roman Pölsler's THE WALL.

Marianna Films