Carsten Göttel (*1984) is a german filmmaker & writer living in Düsseldorf, Germany.

He discovered music in his early youth leading to an apprenticeship as a media designer, where he developed a passion for editing motion picture. Once caught a glimpse behind the screen or the camera, he became fascinated with the idea to make film. But he had to start at the beginning. Scriptwriting. How to tell a story. After reading everything he could get his hands on about writing film, it didn't take long to discover literature via Kafka & Dostoyevsky, while at the same time lured by writing competitons starting to write his own short storys. But the idea didn't let go. He had to take the next step and learn directing, mise en scène & camera work. How to visualize a story.

And to understand how 24 pictures a second work, he had to start at the beginning, again, and understand a single one. Photography. Analog Photography. A hobby his favourite filmmakers had in common.

But composition & visual storytelling long existed before photography or film. Art. And if he wanted to make arthouse film, it didn't suffice to study the works of other directors. He had to know what is was all about.

Back to the beginning.

In a nutshell in 2018 after 17 short films Carsten Göttel wrote & directed his first feature film »OKZIDENT - A Film About Europe«. He wrote a children's book, two novels and several essays about film, writing & photography among other topics leading to the semi-autobiography »Symphonie - Die Kunst im Augenblick«, in which he takes the reader through ten years of his life working, questioning & searching for the meaning of art.

Currently Carsten Göttel is laying the groundwork for his second feature film working titled »Conditio Humana«, while also finishing the three part children's novel »Anderswo«.