Michael Glawogger was born in Graz, Austria, on December 3, 1959. After graduating from high school he studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Vienna Film Academy. He began his career as an assistant camera operator, later working as cinematographer, and finally as screenwriter and director. Between 1981 and 2013 he made numerous internationally acclaimed shorts, documentaries, and feature films. He also devoted himself to literary writing. His novel “69 Hotelzimmer” was published posthumously. Michael Glawogger died in Monrovia, Liberia, in April 2014 while shooting “Untitled”. His premature death interrupted collaboration on a number of feature film projects, among others with writers such as William T. Vollmann, Michael Ostrowski, Eva Menasse, and Sybille Berg.