World Film Report Austria: Cheers for Waltz, Kudos to Haneke and Jeers for Oskar Roehler

Austria walked away with a one out of three count from last night’s Academy Awards. While going home empty-handed in the Cinematography (Christian Berger) and Foreign Film categories (Haneke’s film was a German produced picture, but our pride in Haneke makes us consider this film one of our own), but Austrian-born Christoph Waltz predictably won for Best Supporting Actor in Q.T’s Basterds. And speaking of the Oscars, here are some updates and the whereabouts of recent Austrian Oscar nominees.

Austria Film Scene: Local

Götz Spielmann, who wrote and directed Revanche, which received a nomination for Best Foreign Pic last year, is seeing his play entitled Imperium receiving an extended theater run. Written by Spielmann, it was first released in Linz 2007 (well before Revanche) and is currently being shown in Graz (Styria). Once again set in with dwellings of the Red Light world, Spielmann mentioned in an interview that the “play revolves around a medium-size brothel owner who’s ruined by his plan for life, which is too narrow and too superficial.”

Stefan Ruzowitzky, who won Best Foreign Picture for The Counterfeiters in 08′ is moving onto Hollywood film projects. He recently directed a children’s film and did some commercial work, but Variety reported that he is in negotiations to direct the horror-thriller The Last Voyage of the Demeter – which is based on a chapter in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” describing the arrival of the vampire count in England on a cargo ship that has crashed into the rocks at Whitby with no crew and the dead captain lashed to the steering wheel.

Actor Karl Markovics, the lead in Ruzowitzky’s Oscar winner, just received a funding commitment for his first feature as a director. Titled Breathing, Markovics wrote the screenplay is began casting a little more than two weeks ago.

A pair of upcoming documentary films to look out for and which are receiving local releases include, Robert Dornhelm’s Udo Proksch – Out of Control – which focuses on the man who triggered the largest political scandal in the second Republic of Austria. By the looks of the trailer, it looks like a promising docu offering.
Our Daily Bread director Nicolaus Geyrhalter ‘s latest is called Abendland – it focuses on the nocturnal worlds that exist in setting such as Europe’s Airports, Cineplexes, Bank Buildings, etc. 

Austria Film Scene: Abroad

The Berlin Film Festival which took place early last month had a pair of in competition for the Golden Bear entries in Der Räuber (The Robber) and Jud Süss – Film ohne Gewissen (Film without Conscience). Neither films won, but there was some controversy surrounding Jud Süss – Film ohne Gewissen which is Oskar Roehler’s latest venture (see pic above). The Austrian/German co-production, tells fictionalized story about the production of the propaganda movie Jud Süß. While the acting (Moritz Bleibtreu who plays Joseph Goebbels, reteams with The Baader Meinhof Complex co-star Martina Gedeck) and editing were generally praised, the movie, which also uses scenes from the original, had a very controversial press-screening at the Berlinale with loud booing and people leaving the screening midway.

Der Räuber received a lot of buzz back home in Austria. The movie, produced by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, is directed by Benjamin Heisenberg and Andreas Lust, who starred in Revanche, plays the lead in this film which is based on the true Story of Pumpgun Ronnie, a bank robber who robbed banks disguised with a Ronald Reagan mask – he also happened to be an acclaimed marathon runner. The pic previously won the prize for best “youth” Direction at the Bavarian Film Festival — here’s the German language trailer.

Also continuing their respective festival and theatrical runs are Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes (which played at Venice and TIFF, got released stateside last month up will be shown at the Birds Eye View Festival in London (4.3-12.3), the International Film Festival in Miami (5.3-14.3), the Women with Vision International Film Festival in Minneapolis (12.3-27.3), in Cleveland (18.3-28.3) and Hong Kong (21.3-6.4).

La Pivellina by Tizza Coci & Rainer Frimmel is an Austrian/Italian co-production will be at the following festivals. Kosmorama Interantional Film Festival in Trondheim (as will A Moment Freedom and The Bone Man, 11.3-16.3), in Vilnius (18.3-2.4), in Hong Kong (21.3-6.4), Rencontres Cinématographiques at Salon De Provonce (23-30.3) and at the New Directors/New Film Festival in New York (24.3 – 4.4).

Florian Wiesenhofer is IONCINEMA.com’s Austrian Film Correspondent.