The Lives of Others is a 2006 German drama film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, marking his feature film directorial debut. The story centres around the covert audio surveillance of East Berlin residents by a senior operative of the Stasi, the secret police of the former East Germany. It stars Ulrich Mühe as Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Tukur as his superior Anton Grubitz, Sebastian Koch as the playwright Georg Dreyman, and Martina Gedeck as Dreyman's lover, a prominent actress named Christa-Maria Sieland.