Achim Bornhak, known professionally as AKIZ, was born in Germany and later studied direction at the Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg. During his time at the academy, two of his student films received Academy Award nominations for the Oscar.
In 1995, AKIZ received a scholarship to attend graduate film school at the University of Southern California. After completing his studies, he directed his highly acclaimed debut "SCHOOLS OUT" in 1997.
In 1999, AKIZ relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked on documentaries, independent projects, and screenplays. He also created the first prototypes of the creature for his feature film "DER NACHTMAHR" during this time, which spanned until 2004.
AKIZ returned to Germany and directed the feature film "Das Wilde Leben" for Warner Brothers, which was released in theaters in 2007 and received two nominations for the German Film Awards. The film also received the highest German predicate of the Deutsche Filmbewertungstelle, "Besonders Wertvoll", and was screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2013.
The film's title song "SUMMERWINE" by Lee Hazelwood, sung by Ville Valo and the lead actress Natalia Avelon, achieved double-platinum status and became the most successful German film song of all time.
Parallel to his film work, AKIZ created paintings and sculptures in his studio in the South Tyrolean Alps under his pseudonym AKIZ. His artwork was exposed by David Lynch and the Bizzurkearmy at the Engine Collision Fest in Los Angeles in 2008.
In 2010, AKIZ realized his short film and art piece "PAINTING REALITY", which was featured in BANKSY'S film about international street artists "The Antics Roadshow". The film was also screened at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
That same year, AKIZ directed the short film "EVOKATION" for the Electric Cinema of the Soho House London and collaborated with Philipp Virus on various projects.
In 2012, AKIZ launched his film production company OOO- FILMS. He then realized his long-term project and highly ambitious feature film "DER NACHTMAHR", with a planned German theatrical release in 2015.
