Volker Schlondorf is the creator of a number of masterpieces including Swann in Love (1984), Homo Faber (1991), Palmetto (1998) and many others. His most famous film The Tin Drum won a foreign language Oscar and a Golden Palm at Cannes. The Ninth Day (2004) – the latest piece by the German director, who was involved in directing a number of operas in Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris before devoting himself entirely to film, was screened at the 2005 edition of the Sofia International Film Festival within the "European Screen" program.
Volker Schlondorf was awarded the Sofia Municipality award for outstanding achievements in world cinema in 2006.