# Joel Basman

Joel Basman (born 23 January 1990) is a Swiss actor best known for having played Franz Kafka in the ARD Miniseries Kafka (2024)

## Early life

Basman was born in Zurich, Switzerland, to a Swiss Christian mother and an Israeli-Jewish father, both of whom were tailors in the Swiss fashion industry. He grew up in the neighborhood of Aussersihl and was raised bilingual, speaking Swiss-German and Hebrew. He has one older sister who resides in Israel.

## Career

In 2004, he started his career and played a bold teenager named Zizou for the weekly soap opera Lüthi und Blanc.
In 2007, director Tobias Ineichen gave the main part to Basman for his film Jimmie. There, he played an autistic boy. In February 2008, he got the prize Shooting Star for his part as a Russian teenager on the film Luftibus, written by director Dominque de Rivaz. In September 2008, Basman received the Schweizer Fernsehpreis (Swiss TV-Prize) in the category film. In October 2008, he got the prize for the best main part from Cinema Tous Ecrans.
At the Schauspielhaus Zürich, Joel Basman acted in 2003 for a youth-theatre project. In 2004 and 2005, he played with students, who were at their final project. He finished his studies at the European Film Actor School in October 2008.
In 2012, Basman got a part as Bertel in the three-part TV film Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter (Our mothers, our fathers). He also played Pascal in the Swiss TV-film Ziellos (Aimless).
Joel Basman starred as Sebastien Leclercq in a game called Late Shift in 2016.
In 2018, Basman played the lead role in The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch, which was picked up by Netflix.

## Filmography

| Year | Film | Name | Director |
| 2004–2006 | Lüthi und Blanc | Zizou Imboden | Sabine Boss and others |
| 2004 | Mein Name ist Eugen | | Michael Steiner |
| 2005 | Ausgrenzungen | | Liliane Steiner |
| 2006 | Breakout | Silenzio | Mike Eschmann |
| 2006 | Cannabis – Probieren geht über Regieren | Remo | Niklaus Hilber |
| 2007 | Mikado | | Silvia Zeitlinger |
| 2007 | Tausend Ozeane | Eric | Luki Frieden |
| 2007 | Jimmie | Jimmie | Tobias Ineichen |
| 2007 | Luftbusiness | Liocha | Dominique de Rivaz |
| 2008 | Happy New Year | Oskar | Christoph Schaub |
| 2008 | Tatort: Liebeswirren | Werner Weißenbach | Tobias Ineichen |
| 2008 | Mein Schüler, seine Mutter & ich | Franz | Andreas Linke |
| 2010 | Picco | Tommy | Philip Koch [de] |
| 2010 | Sennentuntschi | Albert | Michael Steiner |
| 2010 | Tatort: Der letzte Patient | Tim König | Friedemann Fromm |
| 2010 | Rosannas Tochter | Ruben | |
| 2011 | Löwenzahn – Das Kinoabenteuer | Ronny | Peter Timm |
| 2011 | Hanna | Razor | Joe Wright |
| 2012 | Polizeiruf 110: Eine andere Welt | Dennis Kuscinsky | Nicolai Rohde |
| 2013 | Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter | Bartel | Philipp Kadelbach |
| 2013 | Tatort: Freunde bis in den Tod | Manu | Nicolai Rohde |
| 2013 | Summer Outside [de] | Theo | Friederike Jehn [de] |
| 2013 | Puppylove | Paul | Delphine Lehericey |
| 2013 | Keep Rollin' [de] | Paul | Stefan Hillebrand, Oliver Paulus |
| 2014 | Dawn | Elisha | Romed Wyder |
| 2014 | The Monuments Men | German soldier | George Clooney |
| 2014 | Ziellos | Pascal | Niklaus Hilber |
| 2014 | Wir Sind Jung. Wir Sind Stark | Robbie | Burhan Qurbani |
| 2015 | Tatort: Borowski und der Himmel über Kiel | Mike Nickel | Christian Schwochow |
| 2015 | Land of Mine | Helmut Morbach | Martin Zandvliet |
| 2017 | Papillon | Maturette | Aaron Guzikowski |
| 2018 | Kursk | Leo | Thomas Vinterberg |
| 2018 | Wolkenbruch's Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa | Mordechai Wolkenbruch | Michael Steiner |
| 2018 | Zauberer | Marcel | Sebastian Brauneis |
| 2019 | A Hidden Life | Military trainee | Terrence Malick |
| 2020 | Adventures of a Mathematician | Edward Teller | Thor Klein |
| 2021 | The King's Man | Gavrilo Princip | Matthew Vaughn |
| 2021 | Tides | Paling | Tim Fehlbaum |
| 2023 | Kafka | Franz Kafka | David Schalko |
| 2023 | Stella. A Life. | Peter | Kilian Riedhof |
| TBA | Storm | Walter Storm | Ivan Madeo |

## Audio drama

* 2013: Hattie Naylor: Ivan und die Hunde; Regie: Reto Ott (SRF)

## Distinctions

* 2008: Schweizer Fernsehpreis
* 2008: Shooting Star