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A key figure in the New German Film movement, Ulrich Schamoni specialized in controversial satires beginning with his 1965 directorial debut Es (It), an ironic, but realistic portrayal of a counter-culture couple living in Berlin that critics dismissed as being too frivolous to be taken seriously. Undeterred, Schamoni made several more social satires, including a look at a family Christmas holiday All Jahre Weider (Every Year). In 1974, he caused controversy again with Chapeau Claque (Top Hat), a tale of a lazy young businessman who would rather hang out in the pool of his father's old mansion and live off his inheritance than work. German censors felt the film might have a negative influence on young people. By the mid-'80s, Schamoni had tired of directing and became involved with commercial media and the founding of a Berlin radio station.