Robert von Dassanowsky
Robert von Dassanowsky (aka Robert Dassanowsky) born January 28, 1960 in New York, is an Austrian-American academic, writer, film and cultural historian, and producer.
A student of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dassanowsky is a widely published academican, award-winning playwright and has written for television. In the 1980s, he worked as an actor and was involved in the poetry/performance scene in Los Angeles. He continues to serve on the editorial boards of literary publications in the U.S., Canada and Austria. Since 1993, he has been Professor of German and Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and has become particularly known for his influential scholarly work on author Alexander Lernet-Holenia, German filmmaker and photographer Leni Riefenstahl and on Austrian film. He also teaches at UCLA. Dassanowsky served as founding President of the Colorado chapter of the international writers' organization, PEN and is a founding Vice President of the Austrian American Film Association (AAFA). Additionally, he is the Contributing Editor of the "Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America," a Contributing Advisor to the "International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers," and author of "Austrian Cinema: A History," the first English language survey of this national cinema. The son of Austrian film studio founder and musician Elfi von Dassanowsky, he is also active as an independent producer. His recent projects include the documentary "The Archduke and Herbert Hinkel" (2007), the feature "Wilson Chance" (2005), the animated short "The Nightmare Stumbles Past" (2003), the dramatic short "Believe" (2003), and the award-winning "Semmelweis" (2001). Dassanowsky's "Telegrams from the Metropole: Selected Poems 1980-1998" received a Pushcart Prize nomination in 2000, and he became one of the few Americans elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2001. A member of American Mensa, he was named the Carnegie Foundation/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year for Colorado in 2004 ([1]) and was decorated by the Austrian president in 2005.([2])