Since the 1960s Lutz Mommartz (b. 1934) has helped shape the German experimental film. Mommartz began as an autodidact and was successful on the art and film scenes with his films and was appointed to a professorship in film at the Kunstakademie Münster in 1978 (until 1999). In his films and cinematographic installations, he explores the mission of cinema, the anonymity of the viewer, the reality claim of film, and purpose of the script.

In 1980 Mommartz produced the feature film Tango durch Deutschland (Tango through German). The leading role was played by the legendary Eddie Constantine, who as an aging film star in the film—and in life—was aimlessly searching for himself. Mommartz declared that film to have been a failure and in 1990 produced the new version Eddie (Recycled aus “Tango durch Deutschland”). In 2018 there is a current version in which Mommartz recapitulates the events and once again revolves around the tragedy of the idol.