Sebastian Voltmer, born on Dec 1st in 1981, studied Graphic Design at the Kunsthochschule Kassel as a student of Floris Neusüss in the Department of Photography as well as Nicolaus Ott and Bernard Stein. He completed his studies as a student of the director Yana Drouz with the film “The Return of Mars“. In 2003 he was awarded a scholarship at Kingston University in London, in 2004 he was a visiting student at the Film Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Voltmer works as a cameraman and filmmaker for the ARD (Saarländischer Rundfunk).

With the film “JOMI’s sphere of action” he presents his second feature-length feature film after “DESNA – The Music Saved My Life” (2014). He is interested in the “dynamics and spontaneity of the moments”. He picks up ideas from direct cinema of the 50s and develops his stories from the action of his protagonists.

Already as a teenager, photography and film meant exploratory voyages for him, which is reflected in his “Jugend forscht” work in “Astrophotography as a method for comet discovery”, with which Voltmer became State Winner and Federal Prize Winner in 2000 and was invited to Chancellor Schröder.

At the age of seventeen, he shot his first film entitled “The Face of the Moon”, which received the “Film Prize for a Special Setting” at the Landshut Open Competition for Filmmakers under 24 in July 1999. In the extended version, his film was taken over under the title “The Face of Heaven” by Bayerischer Rundfunk in its TV program (Space-Night). The title music for his films is usually composed by Voltmer as in “DESNA – the music saved my life” (2014).
 
 Filmography

  • 2010/2011: Scriptwriting Camp Freiburg, Wiesbaden and Sony-Center Berlin Module I to Masterclass (with Andres Veiel), funded by “Hessische Filmförderung”.
  • Jan 3rd 2011: Broadcast of the feature “Bullermanns Reisen – a gorilla life from Cameroon to Shanghai” on “Südwest 3”. Camera operator in Shanghai, 2009
  • December 2010: Film funding by “Saarland Medien” for the documentary “DESNA – Music saved my life”, completed in August 2013.
  • Sep 30th to Oct 2nd in 2011: Member of jury for the youth film competition “Créajeune 2012”. Award ceremony in the categories “Films of children” and “Films of young people” from the Greater Region (Luxembourg, Lorraine, Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia) and the cross-border city network “QuattroPole”.
  • 2011/2012: Film Awards for the documentary “The Return of Mars”: “official best of fest”, Seattle
  • Feb 2011: Award (Best Narrator) at the “Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival”, Jan 2012.
  • August 2011: Feature “50 years of manned spaceflight” about the “Starmus Festival” on Tenerife, (among others with Neil Armstrong and Alexei Leonow) on behalf of “Spektrum der Wissenschaft” / “Sterne und Weltraum”
  • November 2013: Full-Dome Aurora explosion (Timelapse) for the “Think tank Birmingham science museum”.
  • 2013/2014: Video Operator for the ARD series “TATORT”.
  • Jan 26th 2014: World premiere of the documentary “DESNA – Music Saved My Life” as part of the “Max Ophüls Preis” festival at “CineStar” Saarbrücken.
  • April 12th 2014 (18:45): First broadcast of the feature “Music Saved His Life – The Composer Rudolf Strassner” on SR-Fernsehen / ARD, editorial “Kulturspiegel”. Repeats: April 17th 2014, Feb 18th / 19th, 2015