SHORT NEWS

Cannes 2011 with Markus Schleinzer's MICHAEL in Competition and Karl Markovics' BREATHING in Director's Fortnight

 

Austrian Films at the 64th Cannes Festival (May 11-22, 2011)

 

COMPETITION (Sélection officielle) 




MICHAEL by Markus Schleinzer
produced by NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion (A)
supported by: Österreichisches Filminstitut, FISA, ORF, Filmfonds Wien, Cine Tirol



MICHAEL describes the last five months of 10-year-old Wolfgang and 35-year-old Michael’s involuntary life together.
with: Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Christine Kain, Ursula Strauss, Viktor Tremmel, Gisela Salcher
 


QUINZAINE DES REALISATEURS

BREATHING by Karl Markovics (epo-film)
supported by: Österreichisches Filminstitut, FISA, ORF, Cinestyria, Filmfonds Wien, Land NÖ

Roman Kogler, 18, is serving time in a juvenile detention center. He has already served half of his sentence, and could be released on probation, but his chances are poor: he doesn’t have family, and seems incapable of coping with society. After many failed attempts, Roman finds a probation job at the municipal morgue in Vienna. One day, Roman is faced with a dead woman
who bears his family name. Even though it soon turns out that she is not his mother, Roman wonders about his past for the first time and starts looking for his mother.

with: Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Matousch, Gerhard Liebmann

Roman is a day-release prisoner. He has something to take care of and must then return to his cell the same evening. What I was most interested in was this dramatic arc and the motif of movement it envelops. He moves from one area of social taboo to another, creating a field of tension where I saw a great deal of potential for a story.
Karl Markovics