Dennis Gastmann

Dennis Gastmann in Patagonia (2010)

Dennis Gastmann (born June 11, 1978 in Osnabrück ) is a German writer , adventurer and representative of gonzo journalism .

Life

Dennis Gastmann studied politics and journalism at the University of Hamburg and began his career as a filmmaker in public broadcasting. At the age of 24 he volunteered at NDR and then joined the satirical show extra 3 - as an author, director and a little later as a reporter in front of the camera. He also worked for the magazines ZAPP and Panorama. At the beginning of 2009, Gastmann moved to the station's foreign editorial team, traveled for five years "With 80,000 questions around the world" and tried, in a lovingly ironic way, to answer the last big questions of humanity. The television series of the same name, of which he was the face, author and voice, was nominated several times for the Grimme Prize . He also moderated the format “Der Gastmann” ( WDR television ), the so-called “first political-satirical talk report”, the pilot episode of which also received a Grimme Prize nomination.

Gastmann first gained notoriety through an artfully assembled interview with the late Franz Josef Strauss on the 2008 Bavarian election. His disarmingly charming reporter figure "Dennis" then reached a larger audience, who got to the bottom of journalistic grievances with simply formulated but subtle questions. GEO magazine called his questioning technique "Stubborn like Michael Moore, fearless like Borat". In 2009, he and Ina Müller received the Golden Prometheus journalist award for “Best Newcomer”.

After Gastmann had published his adventures in front of and behind the camera in the book “With 80,000 Questions Around the World”, he devoted himself to writing. For “Gang nach Canossa” he walked 1,637 kilometers from Hamburg to Italy. His subjective wealth report “closed society” took him on a year-long expedition into high society. All of his books became bestsellers and are considered modern examples of gonzo journalism in German-speaking countries. Most recently, “Atlas of the Undiscovered Lands” was published by Rowohlt Verlag , a journey from the monastic republic of Athos via Transnistria to the remote island of Pitcairn , where the descendants of the mutineers from the Bounty live.

On January 24th, 2018 his new book "The penultimate samurai" was published.

Press reviews

"Gastmann is a wonderful travel writer with a flair for bizarre situations and a talent for dazzling portraits of people," said FOCUS about the "Atlas of Undiscovered Countries". The media critic Stefan Niggemeier calls Gastmann an “extraordinary reporter” whose “loyal Schluffi look” should not deceive you: “Dennis Gastmann is probably the NDR employee who has experienced the most after Rolf Seelmann-Eggebert ” (FAZ .NET dated November 10, 2009). The media magazine ViSdP describes him as " Peter Scholl-Latour of the Twitter generation", who is currently reinventing the profession of foreign reporter. NDR Kultur says he is "a brilliant observer with a penchant for little malicious things".

Quotes

• "Hello, I'm Dennis." (Beginning of each of his films)
• "Does your mother actually know what you are doing here?" (Question to the spokesman for a well-known cigarette company)
• "Why are you not banned?" (Question to the spokesman for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas / USA)

Awards

• 2009: Golden Prometheus as "Best Newcomer of the Year"
• 2009: NDR television award "Seh-Stern" for the "best program idea of ​​the year"
• 2010: Axel Springer Prize in the television category
• 2010: Double nomination for the Grimme Prize for "With 80,000 Questions Around the World" (NDR / WDR)
• 2013: Nomination for the Grimme Prize for "Der Gastmann" (WDR)

various

Dennis Gastmann is the bearer of the nobility title “Last Emperor of Ladonia ”.

Works

• 2011: Around the world with 80,000 questions. Rowohlt, ISBN 978-3-87134-689-7 .
• 2012: Walk to Canossa - one man, one goal, one adventure. Rowohlt, ISBN 978-3-87134-744-3 .
• 2014: Closed Society - A Wealth Report. Rowohlt, ISBN 978-3-87134-773-3 .
• 2016: Atlas of Undiscovered Countries. Rowohlt Berlin, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-87134-825-9 .
• 2018: The penultimate samurai. A Japanese adventure. Rowohlt Berlin, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7371-0011-3 .

Web links

• Official website
• A ray of hope on German television taz on November 27, 2009
• The heavy art of light reporting - Stefan Niggemeier on Dennis Gastmann FAZ.NET from November 10, 2009
• Dennis Gastmann on Twitter
• Dennis gastmann in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.rowohlt.de/hardcover/dennis-gastmann-geschlossen-gesellschaft.html
2. ↑ An interview by Christine Luz: Unknown travel destinations: How Dennis Gastmann became Emperor of Ladonia. In: Spiegel Online . June 9, 2016, accessed June 10, 2018 . 
3. ↑ https://www.rowohlt.de/hardcover/dennis-gastmann-der-vorletzt-samurai.html
4. ↑ DPA Starline: Literature: For intrepid: "Atlas of the undiscovered countries". In: Focus Online . May 24, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Award-winning works TV. (No longer available online.) In: axel-springer-preis.de. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013 ; Retrieved April 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ The Nobles of Ladonia. In: ladonia.org. Retrieved April 25, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Pedophile on Pitcairn in FAZ from June 8, 2016, page 10