Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

Following his release from prison, Schmidt-Reitwein worked as a camera assistant in Munich. In 1969 Werner Herzog offered him the chance to work on a documentary feature film as director of photography. The film Fata Morgana was widely praised by critics. Schmidt-Reitwein worked with Herzog on 17 more movies and documentary films. He also worked with several well known directors including Douglas Sirk, Alexander Kluge, Herbert Achternbusch, Josef Bierbichler, H.C. Blumenberg, Werner Schroeter, Alan Greenberg, Valie Export, Doris Dörrie, Jochen Kuhn, Markus Fischer, Douglas Wolfsperger and Andre Heller. He earned two German Film Prize trophies awarded in gold for his light speciality on two films he collaborated with Werner Herzog.

Schmidt-Reitwein is the father of five children. From his first marriage with Erika Kaul he is the father to his oldest daughter Iris Maria (b. 1966), from his second marriage with Susanne Rupprecht to son Tobias and daughters Lara and Lisa. Together with his third wife he has raised his youngest daughter Ana.

After attending Waldorfschool, Schmidt-Reitwein studied physics for a few semesters in Lübeck, before moving to Berlin in 1959 to pursue a career in film. His career stalled when he was arrested in East Berlin after attempting to smuggle his girlfriend over the Berlin Wall to West-Berlin. Sentenced to five years imprisonment, he was released after three years when the West German government negotiated his freedom against 84,000 DM worth of butter.

Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein (born 1939 in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany) is a German cinematographer. He has collaborated with director Werner Herzog on a number of projects. Among his many collaborations with other directors, Schmidt-Reitwein is known for shooting Alan Greenberg's acclaimed 1982 documentary about Jamaica and death of Bob Marley, Land of Look Behind.