Jack Rath is an Australian-Swiss director, writer, editor, actor, and voice-over artist based in Berlin. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts at RMIT Melbourne, he began his career in the Australian film industry before relocating to Berlin in 2000.
His debut short, OLLI (35mm), a co-production with Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen Konrad Wolf (HFF), screened at over forty international festivals and earned accolades, including the FBW's Besonders Wertvoll certificate. Jack’s first feature, the documentary Between Home: Odyssey of an Unusual Sea Bandit, premiered at Achtung Berlin and toured various international festivals.
Jack's second feature, Biscuit Tin Blues (2024), was developed with support from a Neustart Kultur grant from the German Federal Government. In addition to his filmmaking, Jack has acted in Frauke Havemann and Eric Schefter’s Weather House (Slamdance 2017) and their follow-up, Be Right Back (2021).
A passionate educator, Jack has taught filmmaking at institutions including the Deutsches Filminstitut (DFF), Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch, and IDFA. He has also worked with the Deutsche Filmakademie and Bilderbewegen e.V. on the award-winning Mix-it! initiative and led workshops for the Filmakademie’s SPOTS program in 2023.
Jack is an alumnus of the Berlin Talent Campus and Equinox Europe International Screenwriters' Workshop.
Photo: Ornella Orlandini
Filmography:
WRITER & DIRECTOR
2024 - BISCUIT TIN BLUES feature film in post-production
2019 - Music Videos: Die Rixdorfer Perlen “Königin von Berlin”, She’s a Woman “The Art of Pleasing”
2018 - Down Brother Up – teaser film for feature length project in development
2012 - BETWEEN HOME: Odyssey of unusual sea bandit – feature length documentary Co-production with Hanfgarn & Ufer filmproduktion & Selin Yaman
2006 - OLLI, 35mm short film, German language. HHF Potsdam
2003 - CAPITALISM, short film
2000 - CAMERA IN HAND, mid-length Super 8 essay / documentary.
1997 - BIGGER FISH TO FRY, short 16mm silent film
1995 - RECOIL, student film 16mm RMIT University graduation work.
1993 - TRANS, EXPAND URBAN, experimental student film 16mm
1992 - RHYTHMSCAPES, experimental Super 8 & sound installation, APPLESALUTE experimental student film 16mm & video
1990 - CAMERA WRAP, experimental student video Installation. La Trobe University Library
WRITER
2024 - BISCUIT TIN BLUES feature film in post-production
2019 - THE HOFF bio-documentary about David Hasselhoff, outline & script for producers Philip Hohn and Christian Mueller
2017 - 2019 DOWN BROTHER UP feature length screenplay, Stick Up Films GmbH
2006 - HALS & BEINBRUCH sitcom pilot, Nostro Film Berlin
2005 - BIG CITIES SMALL STORIES – short film by Christoph Lukus
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
2022 – Schlamassel – Dir. Sylke Enders / JORONI Produktions- und Verleih GmbH CZAR Film GmbH
ACTOR
2023 – BISCUIT TIN BLUES, director Jack Rath. In post-production
2021 - BE RIGHT BACK, director Frauke Havemann. Premiered at Slamdance
2019 - THE WOMAN WHO SWALLOWED HER HOUSE, director Frauke Havemann
2017 - WEATHER HOUSE, director Frauke Havemann. Premiered at Slamdance
FILM EDITOR (SELECTED)
2022 – Raising the Steaks (mid-length fiction) in post-production. Dir. Glen Geiger Cole
2009 – present, WOOZLE GOOZLE German shildren’s television show (6 seasons)
2013 - 2020 numerous industrial films, image films and commercials for the Technische Universität Berlin, Max Planck Institute, Federal Ministry of Health,
2012 - ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY (Assembly-editor) feature film by Eron Sheean, Instinctive Film, high5films Berlin, MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Pandastorm pictures.
2011 - 100 DUTCH MASTERS series ‘Marc Bijl’ ‘Tjebbe Beekman’ ‘Iris van Dongen’ Documentary by Ditteke Mensink
2009 - WUNSCHKINDER Documentary German television
2008 - KATRIN UND DIE WELT DER TIERE German children’s television series
2007 - PETER MAFFAY: ENCOUNTERS - AN ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN (co-editor) international documentary. WILDLIFE NANNIES international documentary series
2005 - MAJORCA: PARADISE OF CRIME German documentary
2006 - GREIFSWALD JUGEND AMT German documentary
MORNING EVENING MORNING, short by David Burrows - Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Arts
2004 - LIEBST DU MICH, Inspired by “Dämonen” from Lars Noròn. Installation video by Martin Engler. Camera and Editing
ZWISCHEN DEN WELTEN, short by Daniel Steiner & Project 11 Berlin.
2002 - SWIMMING UNDERGROUND MARY WORONOV documentary by Thorsten Trimpop, Locarno Film Festival, Arte, ORB
2001 - SELBST SCHNITT video installation by Wolfgang Hart, Festival Oberhausen, Kasseler Dokumentarfilm & Videofest Zuviel.tv Kunst Programme Berlin. MY WAY video installation by Funfraumwohnung, Erfurt Arts Museam
1999 - 2000 HURT 16mm, super 8mm, video - feature film by Philip Crawford. Australian Film Critics Special Award, SBS Television, ACMI Collection (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
1998 - HANGER short by Colin Mowbray. Sydney Tropfest finalist, ABV television.
1995 - GOD MADE LITTLE GIRLS student film by Andrew Mission, Best Editing Award - Montecatini Film Festival Italy
DIRECTOR & EDUCATOR SOCIAL PROJECT WORKSHOPS
2023 – Deutsches Film Academy ‘Spots’ / Workshop leader in filmmaking praxis
2013 - 2015 IDENTITY TRIOGY,
Deutschen Filmmuseum Frankfurt, Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM) & Kinder- und Jugend-Aliyah e.V.
2016 - 2020 Mix It! Filmproject LET’S THINK ABOUT LOVE, SEHEN HÖREN REDEN, FERNWEH, NACH EINER WAHREN GESCHICHTE, WÄHLE DEINEN WEG, THE CAGE -. Deutschen Filmakademie der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bildung, dem Freistaat Sachsen?dem Thüringer Ministerium für Migration, Justiz und Verbraucherschutz, dem Bündnis für Brandenburg Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur des Landes Brandenburg Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
2010 - STAY THE NIGHT, student short, Ho Chi Minh International School. Saigon Student Film Festival
2007 - 2009 SPITZENFLIEGER, DIMENSION X, DURCH DIE DICK DUMME WAND – Bewegliche Ziele e.v.
ART & PERFORMANCE MOVING IMAGE
2001 to present Video and sound for Regina Gyr’s productions DOPPLEREFFEKT, PHOBIC INC., AUF DEM RÜCKEN SCHWIMMEN, BARRACCAPOLIS, CRIME+GENIUS, FALLWIND, DER HIMMEL UND SEIN DRECKLOCH, ALPENRÖCHELN III, VORHER / NACHHER / MEINE MUTTER WAR EINUNDSIEBZIG UND DIE SPÄTZLE WAREN IM FEUER IN HAFT, PARADIS SURPRIS, EINSAM LEHNEN AM BEKANNTEN & MENSCHMONSTERMACHINE
2004 - HEUTE MITTAG SITZT ER NICHT IM BEIJING, Palace the Republic Berlin. Editor for Penelope Wehrli’s video and sound installation based on Michael Roes’s novel ‘Der Coup der Berdache’
2003 - EMILY ON THE ROCKS, Podewil Berlin. Performance installation by Penelope Wehrli, video editor and text projection animation
2003 - DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN - Staatsbank Berlin. Video design for Berthold Schneider, Operaworks
1997 - KABOOM: EXPLOSIVE ANIMATION, Curator Philip Brophy. M.C.A Sydney (Museum of Contemporary Art) Direction and production of exhibition films
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
2024 BISCUIT TIN BLUES 'Best Feature Film 2024’ Soundscreen Film Festival, Ravenna Italy
2005 OLLI (tragic comedy -10 min - 35mm) Best Foreign Film Fic Mostoles International Short Film Festival Madrid. Honorable Mentions at Next Reel Film Festival Tisch School of the Arts New York, Jutro Film Festival Warsaw Poland, Festival of Nations Ebensee Austria, Etudia & Anima Festival Krakow Poland, Sleepwalkers Film festival Tallin Estonia. Deutsch Filmbewertungsstelle Prädikat “Besonders Wertvoll” & FBW Short Film of the month (Especially Significant Commendation by German film rating board)?
1999 HURT, Best Editing nomination - A.F.I Awards (Australian Film Institute)
GOD MADE LITTLE GIRLS, 1995. Best Editing Award - Montecatini Film Festival Italy.?
KINDER MACHEN KURZ FILME, 2011 Preisträger im Bundesweiten Wettbewerb „Ideen für die Bildungsrepublik”, Mix-it Filmproject 10. Hauptstadtpreis für Demokratie und Toleranz.
Photo: Adrian Zwicker