Rüdiger Sünner
Director
Rüdiger Sünner (born in Cologne on the Rhine in 1953) is a German author, filmmaker, and musician who has been active artistically and intellectually for over three decades. In his work, he focuses primarily on the intersections between spirituality, religion, mythology, and art, deliberately moving beyond conventional genre boundaries. After graduating from high school, Sünner began studying musicology, German language and literature, and philosophy at the Free University of Berlin in 1972. At the same time, he was active as a musician and teacher. In 1985, he received his doctorate with a thesis on Adorno and Nietzsche's aesthetic critique of scientism, in which he examined the tension between art, science, and knowledge. From 1986 to 1991, he studied at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB), which laid the foundation for his film career. Since 1991, Rüdiger Sünner has lived and worked in Berlin as a freelance author, producer, filmmaker, and musician. In his early years, he also produced feature-length television productions, including “Der Nachlass” (The Estate) and “Schwarze Sonne – Mythologische Hintergründe des Nationalsozialismus” (Black Sun – Mythological Backgrounds of National Socialism). Later, he increasingly focused on independent, self-determined projects and developed his own cinematic style, which is close to essayistic documentary film. In his films and books, Sünner portrays important figures in intellectual and cultural history such as Paul Klee, Dag Hammarskjöld, Rudolf Steiner, C. G. Jung, Rainer Maria Rilke, Dorothee Sölle, Paul Celan, Joseph Beuys, and Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition, he devotes himself to spiritual landscapes and places in Europe, including in the film series “Seelenlandschaften: Spirituelle Orte in Europa” (Soul Landscapes: Spiritual Places in Europe). Rüdiger Sünner's work is characterized by an open, undogmatic approach to spiritual and religious questions.
Films on Sooner
Soulscapes: Spiritual Places in Germany
2025
111 mins
Documentary, Independent
A must for anyone who wants to discover and understand the spiritual roots of Germany.
Soulscapes: Spiritual Places in Scotland
2023
56 mins
Documentary, Independent
After England and Wales, Rüdiger Sünner explores the spiritual side of Scotland's breathtaking landscapes in the second part of his trilogy.
Soulscapes: Spiritual Places in England and Wales
2022
53 mins
Documentary, Independent
Poetic film essay which conveys a sense of the lived spirituality of the British Isles.
Show Your Wound - Art and Spirituality in the Work of Joseph Beuys
2015
84 mins
Biography, Documentary
The portrait of an artist who in all his art and with his whole being questioned the existing social system.
Mystik und Widerstand
2013
70 mins
Biography, Documentary
The theologian, feminist, and mystic Dorothee Sölle argued that theology is necessarily political.
Adventure Anthroposophy - Rudolf Steiner and his influence
2008
110 mins
Biography, Documentary
Many people are familiar with Waldorf schools, but few are aware of the life and work of Rudolf Steiner, who in 1919 established them.
The Creative Universe - Science and Spirituality in Dialogue
2010
83 mins
Documentary
In an age of ever-increasing scientific knowledge, why do more and more people prefer to adopt alternative lifestyles?
Geheimes Deutschland
2006
61 mins
Documentary
Already in 18th century Germany, early Romanticism developed a spiritual worldview that many today seek in Far Eastern spirituality.
Die Legende vom Nil
1991
58 mins
Biography, Documentary
This travel diary describes the journey of the painter Paul Klee in Egypt between 1928 and 1929 through his letters and his paintings.
The Tree of Life
2005
70 mins
Biography, Documentary
This film illuminates the poetic-mystical side of Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the UN Blue Helmet missions Dag Hammarskjöld.
The Sea at Night - A Journey into the Psychology of C.G. Jung
2011
69 mins
Biography, Documentary
A cinematic journey into the biography of the psychiatrist C. G. Jung (1875−1961) and into his powerful world of myths, dreams and symbols.
Magisches Irland
2018
24 mins
Documentary
Spiritual travel documentary to the "sacred places" of Ireland and numerous sanctuaries that date back to Celtic times.
Sacred Games
2022
72 mins
Documentary, Music, Dance, Theater
What God did Bach believe in and what was the nature of his spirituality? Did it transcend the confines of his Protestant upbringing?
Black Sun - Mythological Background of National Socialism
1998
95 mins
Documentary
The film BLACK SUN illuminates the importance of myths and occult beliefs in the ideology of the "Third Reich".
Engel über Europa - Rilke als Gottsucher
2018
82 mins
Biography, Documentary
Rainer Maria Rilke was not only one of the greatest German poets, but also a spiritual seeker who walked his very own path.
Wildes Denken
2020
108 mins
Documentary
The film clarifies - according to Claude Lévi-Strauss - the "wild thinking" of indigenous cultures based on masks, cult objects, and rituals.