In 1982 he directed the film Der Fan, with Désirée Nosbusch in the lead role, which became a cult film in Germany and worldwide.[2][3][4] The film is an adaptation from his novel of the same title.
In the early 2000s Schmidt started shooting his feature films in high definition, which were all filmed in Los Angeles.
While living in Rome in 2016, Schmidt made a collection of nine feature films under the title ROMAN CYCLE, which he brought from the cinema to the Blu-ray release.[5]
While making feature films, he also directed and produced more than eighty documentary films on topics varying from the Myth of Hollywood, Italian Cinema, Classical Music and Cities, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
In 1989, in cooperation with NHK and Sony, Schmidt was the artistic director of the first major HDTV production in the world of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung. He made more than twenty documentaries about opera stars, composers, conductors, opera productions and opera houses such as the Los Angeles Opera.
In the seventies Schmidt began a collaboration with Joachim Fuchsberger for numerous TV variety shows. This partnership lasted for fifteen years.
In the following years Schmidt continued to write and publish novels and poetry. The focus of his works centers on young women and their hopes, anxieties and fears. His poetry is accompanied by his works as a photographer.
In the 2011 Schmidt developed a new creative format, FOTOVISION, a combination of poetry, photography and music.
Schmidt has been living and working in Rome, Palermo, Los Angeles and Munich since 2016.
Filmographyedit
Short filmsedit
Nachmittags (1964)
Die Flucht (1965)
Nachtblau (1991)
Zwischenmusik (1995)
Feature filmsedit
Mädchen, Mädchen [de], directed by Roger Fritz (1967)
Jet Generation [de] (1968)
Erotik auf der Schulbank [de] (1968), Segment Fantasie
Männer sind zum Lieben da / Atlantis – Ein Sommermärchen (1970)
Stardust Hollywood – Sternenstaub und Götterwelten (2013)
Hollywood Rebells (2013)
Cinema Italiano – Momenti della Verità (2014)
Helmut Dietl erzählt ... (2015)
Made in Hollywood: Hitchcocks Blondinen (2016)
Made in Hollywood: The World of Raoul Walsh (2017)
Made in Hollywood: The World of Budd Boetticher (2017)
Made in Hollywood: The World of William Wellman (2017)
Sonja Ziemann erzählt ... (2017)
Peter Kraus erzählt ... (2017)
Los Angeles narrates ... (2017)
Karin Michalke: Beste Zeit auf der Alm (2017)
Julie Taymor: Shakespeare's Kino (2017)
Harold Nebenzal erzählt ... (2017)
Artur Brauner erzählt ... (2017)
Robert Sigl erzählt ... (2017)
Carroll Baker: vom Baby Doll zur Lady Glamour (2017)
F. Scott Fitzgerald: Seine Sekretärin Frances Kroll Ring erzählt ... (2017)
Ludwig I. – Italienische Elegie (2018)
Fotovisionedit
Fotovision: Photographie, Poesie, Musik (2011)
Motel Girls (2012)
All about Girls (2013)
Booksedit
Der Fan – Tagebuch einer Sechzehnjährigen, Droemer Knaur, München, 1982, ISBN 978-3426024522
Das Gold der Liebe, Droemer Knaur, München, 1983, ISBN 978-3426024539
Die Story, Droemer Knaur, München, 1984, ISBN 3-426-02455-1
Das Tagebuch des Feuerpferds, Dieve Verlag, 1988, ISBN 978-3927131088
Die Einsamkeit des Eisbären und andere faszinierende Geschichten (= Geheimnisvolle Tierwelt), Bastei Luebbe Verlagsgruppe, Köln, 1989, ISBN 3-404-63204-4
Der Bayerische Filmpreis '94, '95 und '96; Olzog – Aktuell GmbH, 1999, ISBN 3-7892-7393-7
Window Girls – Fotobuch, Belleville, 2008, ISBN 978-3936298598
Mulholland Drive – Opening Scenes: Fotobuch, Belleville, 2009, ISBN 978-3936298826
ROMA/AMOR – Fotobuch, Belleville, 2010, ISBN 978-3936298154
Hotel/Minorella – Tagebuch einer 16-Jährigen (Zwei Romane), ES Publishing, München, 2011, ISBN 978-3000351549, as Raoul Sternberg
Bad Girls Are Good Girls – A Poetry album, ES Publishing, München, 2013, ISBN 978-3000436949
Niemals allein, für immer einsam – Generation Y, ES Publishing, München, 2013, ISBN 978-3000439179
NASS – Tagebuch einer 16-Jährigen, ES Publishing, München, 2014, ISBN 978-3000442186, as Raoul Sternberg
Corridos – Erzählungen, ES Publishing, München, 2014, ISBN 978-3000361180, as Raoul Sternberg
Love and Hate in L. A., Belleville, 2014 ISBN 978-3943157789
Hollywood Girl, ES Publishing, München, 2016, ISBN 978-3000529146
Amore Verticale, ES Publishing, München, 2017, ISBN 978-3000558283
La La Land Stories, ES Publishing, München, 2017, ISBN 978-3000570841
Stichworte, ES Publishing, München, 2018, ISBN 978-3000590849
Pomeriggio a Roma, ES Publishing, 2018, ISBN 978-3000590856
Motel Girls – Gedichte und Fotografien, 2018, ISBN 978-3943157000
BlumenMädchen, ES Publishing, 2020, ISBN 978-3-9820580-2-3
Küsse.Bisse, ES Publishing, 2021, ISBN 978-3-9820580-3-0
Referencesedit
^Gaydos, Steven (October 25, 2019). "German Filmmaker Eckhart Schmidt's Career Took Off in 1968 With 'Jet Generation'". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
^"The Fan". mondo-digital.com. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
^"Der Fan aka The Fan". diaboliquemagazine.com. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^"Der Fan". ipersphera.org. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^"Mythen, Miezen, Trash und Dante – Ein Interview mit Eckhart Schmidt zum Kinostart seiner "Römischen Trilogie"". artechock.de. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^"S!A!U!". sub-bavaria.de. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^"Archive Artist Publications". artistbooks.de. Retrieved September 11, 2018.