NOMINATIONS 2011
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
The annual award is presented to a young, up-and-coming director for their first feature film
BREATHING (Atmen) (Austria) Dir/scr Karl Markovics This rites-of-passage story about a young man’s attempt to forge a new life after a childhood spent in institutions marks the first move behind the camera for Karl Markovics, a renowned Austrian actor and the lead in The Counterfeiters (Die Fäls- cher). Breathing debuted in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes earlier this year, when it won promotional support for distribution via the Europa Cinemas Label for best European film playing in the Fort- night. It also went on to win the Heart of Sarajevo prize for best film at the Sarajevo Film Festival in July, and played further festivals to much acclaim. Newcomer Thomas Shubert, who is rarely off-
screen, plays Roman, a young man abandoned by his mother, who accidentally kills a boy in a brawl. At 18, facing a life behind bars unless he can find a job, Roman finds unlikely salvation through working at the Vienna city mortuary. Produced by epo-film’s Dieter Pochlatko and
Nikolaus Wisiak, Breathing is sold internation- ally by France’s Films Distribution. Thim Film is releasing Breathing in Germany and Austria this December.
40 n European Film Awards 2011
MICHAEL (Austria) Dir Markus Schleinzer First-time film-maker Markus Schleinzer has made the jump from casting director — he cast fellow countryman Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) — to writer-director with his assured handling of a feature exploring the banality of evil. This hard- hitting film portrays the day-to-day life of a 10-year-old boy locked in the basement of the house of his 35-year-old abductor. Michael Fuith and David Rauchenberger star in the film, which is produced by Nikolaus Geyrhalter Produktion. Michael was the only German-language film
to screen in competition at Cannes this year, and went on to win plaudits on the international festival circuit, including at the Toronto Interna- tional Film Festival. Les Films du Losange is handling sales on the film, which will open in the US in February 2012 via Strand Releasing. It was released in France by Les Films du Losange in November.
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