SHORT NEWS

HOF IFF 2013 showcases eight Austrian (co-)productions

 

Barbara Eder’s BLICK IN DEN ABGRUND, Caspar Pfaundler’s GEHEN AM STRAND, Stefan Ruzowitzky’s DAS RADIKAL BÖSE and Houchang Allahyari’s ROBERT TARANTINO are celebrating their international premiere at the Hof film festival. Another four Austrian films are on the program of the Hof International Film Festival: FOREVER NOT ALONE, MARTAS KOFFER, OKTOBER NOVEMBER, DAS HAUS MEINES VATERS

 

BLICK IN DEN ABGRUND by Barbara Eder (Prisma Film)

Their job is to investigate the dark minds of serial killers, terrorists and rapists. While fictional stories of criminal profilers fascinate mass audiences, their professional reality entails an enormous psychological burden. The film portraits top profilers from the USA, Finland, South Africa, and Germany at their daily routine and when it comes to the challenge of living a “normal” life. How can you enjoy life, when you deal with the worst excesses of human beings day after day?


GEHEN AM STRAND by Caspar Pfaundler (nanookfilm)

Anja has retreated to finish her master’s thesis. As much as she tries, she is stuck in her work. This situation seems to repeat itself with her relationship to her boyfriend Paul. When her grandmother dies and the family gathers at the funeral in The Hague, Anja flees to the seafront. Walking the beach she feels her solitude and starts to see herself in a different light.


DAS RADIKAL BÖSE by Stefan Ruzowitzky (docMovie (D), Aichholzer Filmproduktion (A))

How do normal young men turn into mass murderers? Why do respectable family men kill women, children and babies, day in and day out, for years? Why do so few of them refuse to follow orders, although they are given the option? Using a stylistically innovative approach, Stefan Ruzowitzky’s nonfiction-drama Radical Evil tells of the systematic shooting of Jewish civilians by German death squads in Eastern Europe and searches for the root of evil.


ROBERT TARANTINO by Houchang Allahyari (Allahyari Filmproduktion)

A humorous movie about the life and work of a young filmmaker calling himself Robert Tarantino. As a “rebel without a crew” and against all odds, he tries to shoot a trash-horrormovie. The employment center wants him to work as a cleaner in public restrooms, but without any budget he starts to make his film, The Vienna Blood Massacre.

FOREVER NOT ALONE by Mona Art and Caroline Bobek

Alice, Helene, Maira, Nani, Selin + Vera live in Vienna, they are 14 and best friends. This friendship is the most important thing in their lives. But as boys and parties begin to play a major role and the end of their schooldays is looming closer and closer, the girls have to face the question of what friendship is and how much it can withstand.


DAS HAUS MEINES VATERS by Ludwig Wüst (film-pla.net)

A man is sleeping in a car. A woman brings him coffee. My Father´s House begins abruptly and takes its time in filling us in on the relationship of the two to each other, why the man and his Mercedes have been left stranded in the blossoming meadow, and why he can´t see the bright, shining summer.


MARTAS KOFFER by Günter Schwaiger (Günter Schwaiger Filmproduktion, mosolov-p (E))

Marta suffered years ago the brutal assault of her ex-husband and was about to die. Now her attacker has been released from prison and she is sure he will try again. In her home, where she hides, she shows us her day to day struggle to overcome the trauma and fear. Harald, psychotherapist’s consulting to men “MännerWelten” helps violent men to leave male violence and analyzes the possible causes. The testimony of one of these men takes us into the deepness of his violence.


OKTOBER NOVEMBER by Götz Spielmann

Two sisters and their aged father are reunited in their family home, a former village inn. They have grown estranged over the years and this meeting slowly and inevitably brings to light the conflict between these so dissimilar women. Also their father is aware that time is short to reveal a secret.