| Marian Dora | |
| Birth Place: | Southern Germany |
| Nationality: | German |
| Yearsactive: | 1991–present |
| Awards: | Best International Feature Film – Arthouse Genre Award at New York International Independent Film and Video Festival |
| Known For: | Filmmaking |
| Movement: | Outsider art |
Marian Dora (born 1970 in Southern Germany) is the pseudonym most commonly used by an anonymous German art director, cinematographer, actor, screenwriter, editor, producer, composer, assistant director, makeup artist, special effects/sound/camera/electricity technician, and set decorator/designer, anagram of his actual name, occasionally also credited under several other pseudonyms including Marian Dora Bolutino, Marian Dora Botulino, Marian D. Bolutino, M.D. Botulino, Dr. M. Duran, Marian D. Botulino, M. Duran, Art Doran, M.D. Bolutino, A. Doran, Marian Bolutino and Marian Dallamano.
Marian Dora's first appearance in the film scene dates back to the early 90s, when he started making short films as member of a group of anonymous underground filmmakers. Some of these short films were featured on two anthologies, Blue Snuff 1 and Blue Snuff 2 (the latter withdrawn due to its extreme content). These anthologies would later be released in the form of various standalone short films.
Dora then started working as film producer, editor, and second unit director on several films by Ulli Lommel, whom he had met and started a long-time partnership with in 1996, including Zombie Nation (2004), Green River Killer (2005), B.T.K. Killer (2005), Killer Pickton (2006), and Absolute Evil (2009).
Although Dora had already shot his first feature-film, Debris Documentar, in 2003, his debut as director was marked in 2006 by Cannibal, a reconstruction of the case of Armin Meiwes, who killed and ate a willing victim whom he met on the internet. The film was originally an assignment from Ulli Lommel, but Dora had to release it by himself after its rejection by Lommel because of its extremely gory nature. Cannibal achieved resounding success in the underground film panorama, allowing Dora to start the shooting of his next work in the same year.
Melancholie der Engel, Dora's third film, premiered on 1 May 2009 at festival in Berlin and won the “Best Arthouse Feature Film” prize at New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Melancholie der Engel generated a lot of controversy because of many scenes involving rape, coprophilia, zoophilia, and real animal cruelty (though the murder of a cat was proved to be fake). The controversy surrounding Melancholie der Engel resulted in several death threats to Dora and the end of his partnership with Frank.
Reise nach Agatis, Dora's fourth work, was released in 2010. A DVD version of the film featured Debris documentar as bonus disc, marking its first release nine years after the shooting. In 2012 Dora was confirmed to be the director of Mors in Tabula, one of twelve segments developed for the anthology The Profane Exhibit.
In 2014 Dora released his fifth film, Carcinoma, under the name of Art Doran. The film won an award at the 2015 Sadique-Master Festival, held in Paris. In 2017 Dora appeared in a documentary called Revisiting Melancholie der Engel, walking Swedish filmmaker Magnus Blomdahl through the film's locations and talking about the making of the film.
In 2018, Dora would shoot Das Verlangen der Maria D. and Pesthauch der Menschlichkeit (The Yearning of Maria D. & Blight of Humanity), a double-feature experiment to determine rather it is easier to shoot indoors or easier to shoot outdoors. Pesthauch der Menschlichkeit was quickly dubbed as one of Dora’s most hardcore works to date, with many viewers criticizing its relentlessly cruel nature and extreme violence towards animals. The films would premiere in 2020 at in Berlin, and then get a physical release in a mediabook edition by MTM.
In 2021, Dora shot a documentary-like follow up to Das Verlangen der Maria D. entitled Thomas und Marco which follows actors Thomas Georsch and Marco Klammer as they discuss their film career and personal life. The film was made in response to Klammer’s violent and inappropriate on-set behavior during the shooting of Das Verlangen der Maria D. and once again premiered at in 2022, then released on DVD in 2023 by New Film Order.
Dora's main influence is the European cinema of the 70s: he is a great admirer of the work of Italian directors Gualtiero Jacopetti, Ruggero Deodato, and Sergio Martino, as well as of composers Riz Ortolani, Pippo Caruso, Ennio Morricone, and Guido & Maurizio De Angelis. His favorite film is 1978's The Green Room by François Truffaut, which he quoted in his film Carcinoma, along with Epicurus’s Letter to Menoeceus and the famous 19th-century German song – the latter also being used as foundation for a major part of the film’s score.
Europe’s literary and poetical tradition is another major influence on Dora: many dialogues in his films contain references to the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Eduard Mörike, Georg Büchner, Marquis de Sade, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many others. Reise nach Agatis is said to be inspired by the books by and The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz, and the films by Tonino Ricci and The Bermuda Triangle (by René Cardona Jr.). Dora has claimed that he is fascinated by serial killers like Charles Manson, Andreas Baader, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Dennis Nilsen, particularly their ability to manipulate other people in order to get what they want.