SCHEMEN
Feature Film Script: Barbara Albert based on the Novel "Mesmerizing" by Alissa Walser Director: Barbara Albert
SCHEMEN is a period piece, situated in 18th century Vienna. A story, focusing on Maria Theresia von Paradis, a contemporary Mozarts. A young woman, facing a heavy dilemma: To decide for an ordinary life in light - or an extraordinary life as a pianist in darkness.
Project development supported by ÖFI and FFW.
DREAMS
Feature Documentary, Script: Brigitte Holzinger, Karina Ressler Director: N.N.
Night by night dreams offer us another world untangled from the constraints of
everyday life. In our dreams we are free from any boundaries, even the ones of our
imagination. While sleeping, even the most rational, down-to-earth people among us
experience peculiar and often bizarre stories emerging from realms repressed,
forgotten and often mystified, projected onto an inner screen. The documentary
DREAMS brings us closer to the unique phenomenon of dreaming. It makes us
indulge into the dreams of others and allows us insights into the most recent findings
of dream research.
In development with Art & Science (coproduction), funded by the Austrian Filminstitut and ASRA (Austrian Sleep Research Association)
MIRIAM
Feature Film by Lukas Miko
STEFAN, HANNAH, and their daughter LENA (9) are finally moving out of Hannah’s parents‘ house into their own home. MIRIAM (18) who is related to Stefan and looks after Hannah’s father is also meant to move in with them. But then Lena suddenly loses her rag during a competition without any apparent reason. Hannah blames Miriam and kicks her out. What was meant to be the start to a new family life suddenly develops into a test to the limit. Eventually things settle down and Miriam seems forgotten; but then she suddenly dies in a traffic accident close to their small town. Who was she planning to meet? Who is keeping what from whom? What if Miriam wasn’t to blame fort he family crisis after all? And what if Lena should find out that her beloved Miriam is dead?
Undefinable and oppressive like a Highsmith novel, MIRIAM is a story about the centrifugal and cohesive forces within a family. Brittle identities, dreams that turn out to lead into a trap, and the struggle for autonomy which is most endangered by the one’s family – these are the forces driving the family apart. Maybe the connective force could come from the painful longing for recognition and security, peace and relaxation amidst the relentless competitiveness of everyday life, for love and loyalty.
For a long time the centrifugal forces seem unstoppable and threaten to destroy the family. But through Lena’s love for Miriam, the power of her memory, salvation can begin to grow, unnoticed at first. Because people live as long as we remember them…
DER STAUBLESER
Feature Film Script by Joseph Brainin
Alfred, an antiques dealer, runs a small shop in a Viennese suburb of today. His highly developed sensitivity for the aura of art objects and the spaces that surround them, enable him to read traces in the dust like geologists can read in rock formations.
In his hedonistic life though, he hardly differentiates between beautiful objects and beautiful women, until a jealous lover unleashes an antisemitic campaign against him, which proves to be surprisingly effective, even for a Vienna of the 21st century. Alfred’s economic existence, his social standing and finally the love of his life are being systematically ruined and thus he is suddenly closer to his Jewish identity than he ever was.
Helping an elderly American lady find a valuable painting that was stolen from her family by the Nazis, seventy years ago, when they had to flee from Vienna, Alfred finds himself in the post-war quagmire of “Raubkunst” (Art objects that were looted by the Nazis during the war years). He is confronted by a powerful network of established art collectors, that is not choosy in their means when their activities are being disturbed. Not unlike his own family, some seventy years ago at the outbreak of the war, Alfred for a brief moment considers flight as a solution to the threats to his life and possessions. But then he takes up the battle with a resourcefullness that he has not thought himself capable of.
WIRTSHAUS, THE MOVIE (THE INN)
Feature Film Script by Gideon Koval and Robert Buchschwenter
When late developer Hansl (16) enjoys a surprising erotic encounter with innkeeper's daughter Hannerl (19), it serves as a rude awakening from his dreamy world of books and his own writing. He begins to take an interest in girls but overlooks the rather mousy Mej Windgruber (18), who also enjoys reading and is sincerely interested in his literary efforts. Hansl now embarks on a devious career as a ghostwriter for love-letters, thus causing considerable confusion between the three girls and two boys involved. While both Mej and Hansl have managed to fall for the wrong partners, gradually a close and intimate friendship springs up between them... but before it can take on a romantic aspect it collapses in the face of Hansl’s little deception. But now Hansl does his very best to extricate himself from the mess he has made and compensate for all his mistakes. Mej sees the effort he is making and decides to forgive him.
18 months ago Witcraft secured an option on a script based on this play.
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