Anjel Raymond Vagenstein was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on October 17, France where his Jewish family emigrated due to political reasons. He was later a member of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Youth Union and a guerilla fighter against Bulgarian fascists and the then-government, with a death sentence.

After graduating screenplay writing in Moscow, he has been working as a screenplay writer for the Bulgarian Cinematography Center and for the DEFA Film Studio (the former East Germany Cinematography Center). He is author of over fifty screenplays for films, documentaries and cartoons.

His film Stars, shot in 1959 by the German director Konrad Wolf, was awarded the Special Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was also director of the Vitgenstein House in Vienna, Austria.