Natja Brunckhorst is a German actress, screenwriter, and director.
Brunckhorst was 13 years old when she was selected by director Uli Edel for the leading role as Christiane F. in the critically acclaimed 1981 dramatisation of the biographical work Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo by Christiane Vera Felscherinow, written following the tape recordings of the experiences of teenage girl Christiane F. The film immediately acquired cult status and features David Bowie as both himself and the soundtrack composer, which gave the film a commercial boost. A year later Brunckhorst appeared in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle (1982). After the unexpected success of Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, in order to avoid public attention she retreated from public life and went to school in England. After a short time in Paris she returned to Germany in 1987 to study at the Schauspielschule Bochum. Since then she has acted on film and television, for example in The Princess and the Warrior, as well as the German TV series Dr. Sommerfeld – Neues vom Bülowbogen.
Brunckhorst in 2009
Christiane F. is a 1981 German biographical drama film directed by Uli Edel. It depicts the descent of Christiane Felscherinow, a bored and depressed 13-year-old coming of age in mid-1970s West Berlin, to a 14-year-old heroin addict. Based on the 1978 non-fiction book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, transcribed and edited from tape recordings by Kai Hermann and Horst Rieck, the film immediately acquired cult status and features David Bowie as both composer and as himself. In 2013, Felscherinow published her autobiography Christiane F. – My Second Life.
Theatrical release poster