• Written and directed by Anna Schmidt
• Camera: Matthias Jim Günther, Paul Pflüger, Sebastian Brüning
• Editing/Mixing: Matthias Jim Günther
• Production management: Steffen Thier (MDR), Susann Krüger (schmidtFilm)
• Editors: Matthias Morgenthaler (MDR), Olaf Rosenberg (ARTE)

He was a rebel with a brush, a loner in a group of artists, a revolutionary of color: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff is one of the defining figures of Expressionism. The film delves into the life and work of this painter and shows why his works still fascinate today.

Schmidt-Rottluff, co-founder of the artists’ group “Die Brücke”, wanted to turn the art world upside down. Inspired by Fauvism in France, he liberated color from its depictive function – his luminous, unrestrained works are an expression of pure emotion, a mirror of inner states of mind. But what drove him? How did political upheaval influence his work? Is this reflected in his paintings?

The film takes its audience on a visual journey through Schmidt-Rottluff’s art world – from his beginnings in Dresden and Berlin to his creative retreats on the Baltic Sea and the dramatic challenges of the Nazi era.

The film also looks beyond the German horizon: a journey to the colorful splendor of the southern French artists’ town of Collioure combines the revolutionary ideas of Fauvism with Schmidt-Rottluff’s radical use of color. A look at the psychology of color shows how his intense, unrestrained tones not only provoked but still challenge our perception today.

With impressive images, rarely shown archive footage and art-historical depth of field, the film tells a story of artistic passion and an unwavering will to express oneself.