Director · Screenwriter

Stories that breathe.

Three decades of feature films, drama and authorial cinema. From alaska.de to The White Silence — work that listens before it speaks.

Selected work

A selection.

Based on the deeds of the so-called “death nurse” Niels Högel, the thriller “The White Silence” tells the story of nurse Clara Horn (Julia Jentsch), who returns to her old job after a break of several years to have children. She notices that there are an unusual number of deaths on her ward that don’t seem to be a coincidence. The film shows how Clara pursues her suspicious colleague Rico Weber (Kostja Ullmann) and tries to convince those around her and her superiors of her suspicions.…
ICH WERDE NICHT SCHWEIGEN
The historical thriller “I will not remain silent! tells the story of war widow Margarete Oelckers, who endeavours to obtain her war widow’s pension in post-war Oldenburg and is suddenly committed to the Wehnen sanatorium and nursing home. There she discovers evidence of gruesome Nazi crimes and euthanasia. The film shows the gloomy atmosphere of post-war Germany without embellishment and sheds light on the topics of schizophrenia and the cruel methods used in psychiatric institutions at the time.…
Back in 2007, Esther Gronenborn tackled the mystery thriller genre, which is not particularly popular in Germany. A true crime case packed into a horror story and filmed with an all-star cast. You can watch the film in its entirety on YouTube
ALASKA.DE
alaska.de describes the problems of the lost post-reunification generation in a desolate prefabricated housing estate in Berlin Marzahn. The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Sabine (Jana Pallaske), who is new to the neighbourhood and witnesses a stabbing. She recognises one of the perpetrators as a fellow pupil. An exciting conflict about love, betrayal and loyalty ensues. The film was shot with non-professionals. Esther Gronenborn made her breakthrough as a director in 2001 with alaska.de.…
Together with directors Miriam Dehne and Irene von Alberti, Esther Gronenborn wrote and shot the film Berlin Stories. The story is based on a play of the same name, by director Ren’e Pollesch and revolves around theatre rehearsals in which the director plays himself. Cleverly interlocked, all three episodes take place on the same rehearsal day and shed light on the actors’ work on the text, as well as the relationship between the city and the people who live in it.…
TV
Esther Gronenborn also demonstrates her talent in her commissioned work for television, directing many successful series and unusual one-offs with a light hand and exceptional visuals. Unlike her self-conceived films, which tend to serve the genre of drama and thriller, the focus here is on family entertainment
The making of a music video by Lofilers (BMG Mario Papitto/Shorts Film Kirsten Sohrauer) in the desert of Abu Dhabi. The main characters are the biggest truck and the biggest globe in the world, which were built by modelling freak the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi and offer overnight accommodation for family trips. In the globe alone, there are six bedrooms with attached bathrooms, golden taps and everything you can imagine. The globe served as accommodation for the entire team during the shoot. Here is the link to the video
During her two years at Europe’s largest music video production company DORO Film, she created a number of iconic videos. These include „My little sister“ by the band Spectacoolär. In addition to her work as a music video director, Esther Gronenborn has also made several adverts and social commercials. You can see a selection here