Uli Edel studied German literature and drama at Munich University before enrolling at the Munich Film Academy. Here he directed his first short films, which were produced by his fellow student and friend Bernd Eichinger.
In 1981, Uli Edel, once again with Bernd Eichinger as producer, directed CHRISTIANE F.. The film was a worldwide success and won numerous international awards (including the Montreal Film Festival).
In 1989 in New York, Edel and Eichinger made their next film together, LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN (starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Burt Young), based on the novel by Hubert Selby. The film won the German Film Awards for Best Film and Best Director and the Bavarian Film Award in 1990. In the USA it won the New York Film Critic Award and the Chicago Film Critic Award, amongst others.
Uli Edel has been living in Los Angeles since 1990, where he’s made a successful career as a director of event movies and miniseries for US pay TV, winning numerous awards. To name but a few, his TV movie “Rasputin” won 3 Golden Globes and 3 Emmies. “The Mists of Avalon” was nominated for 11 Emmies and was voted Best TV Film at the 2001 San Francisco International Film Festival. His western, “Purgatory”, made television history: it became the most successful cable TV movie in the history of US television, with 31 million viewers on its first showing.
