crew

MANU LUKSCH   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT
MARTIN REINHART   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT
THOMAS TODE   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT
TILDA SWINTON   VOICE
SIEGFRIED FRIEDRICH   
COMPOSER

MUKUL PATEL     SCRIPT, SOUND DESIGNER, CO-PRODUCER
HANNA NORDHOLT AND FRITZ STEINGROBE   ANIMATORS

PRODUCERS

AMOUR FOU FILMPRODUKTION   (AT)
BILDSCHÖN FILMPRODUKTION   (DE)
AMBIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS   (UK)

 

CONTACTS

U.S. Sales & Distribution & DVDs
ICARUS FILMS, 32 Court Street, Floor 21, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA   Toll-free: (800) 876-1710 , Tel: (718) 488-8900 , mail[at]icarusfilms.com

Austria Distribution
POLYFILM, Margaretenstraße 78, 1050 Vienna, Austria.  +43 1 581 39 00 20  koenig[at]polyfilm.at

UK Distribution
Ambient Information Systems [email]

Festivals & World Sales
Amour Fou VIENNA, Vienna, Austria. 

 

BIOS

Manu LUKSCH   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT

Manu Luksch is an artist and filmmaker who interrogates conceptions of progress and scrutinises the effects of network technologies on social relations, urban space, and political structures. Her installation and procedural works often involve novel processes, like urban planning led by children, or a kayak taxi service along urban canals, which doubles as a research vehicle into the future of transport. These works take place in a wide range of contexts, from galleries and festivals to academic symposia and public spaces. Her widely acclaimed speculative fiction film FACELESS (2002–07), compiled from CCTV footage recovered under the UK’s Data Protection Act, was also voiced by Tilda Swinton, and translated into nine languages. In 2012, Luksch was awarded the Marianne von Willemer Digital Arts Prize (Ars Electronica Centre and City of Linz) and the Austrian National Media Art Prize. Her work is included in the Collection Centre Georges Pompidou and on the Chris Marker website Gorgomancy.

Selected works:

UNKNOWN TERITORIES (dance on film for Channel 4, 2014)
KAYAK LIBRE (water taxi service and geo-website, 2011–12, *Marianne von Willemer Digital Arts Prize)
LIMITATIONS PERMITTED (stereoscopic silent video installation in British Sign Language, 2009)
LOVE, PIRACY & THE OFFICE OF RELIGIOUS WEBLOG EXPANSION (participatory installation: text, procedural censorship, collective reading, 2009–, with Mukul Patel)
MAPPING CCTV (public intervention and short film for NHK, 2008)
FACELESS (data retrieval procedure and speculative fiction film, 2002–07)
ORCHESTRA OF ANXIETY (participatory installation: stainless steel harp strung with razor wire, 2004, with Mukul Patel)
BROADBANDIT HIGHWAY (self-generating road movie, approx. 5 years in length, 2001–06; *Prix Cybermovie, 24th Intnl Moscow Film Festival)
VIRTUAL BORDERS (hybrid radio/internet infrastructure in S.E. Asia and documentary film, 1999–2003)
SO ODER ANDERS (documentary short, 16mm, 1996)

 

MARTIN REINHART   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT

Martin Reinhart’s innovative exploration of film as artistic language is not limited to the making of films – he also develops hardware and processing solutions. He is committed to overcoming the creative boundaries written into industry standards through developing new tools and techniques. His inventions are often made available to other artists, or find a commercial after-life. Notable amongst his innovations are the tx-transform, a film technique that transposes the time axis, t, and one of the space axes, x; Vertigo Rush, a mechanism to execute extreme dolly zooms (with extreme distortion of perspective); and Indiecam, a light, high resolution 3D camera system (used by Danny Boyle for TRANCE). His short films have been shown widely at media arts festivals including Ars Electronica, Linz (AT) 1998; Fantoche, Baden (CH) 1999; European Media Art Festival Osnabrück (D) 1999; DEAF 00, Rotterdam (NL) 2000, and the Festival International du nouveau cinéma nouveaux médias de Montréal, Montreal (CA) 2001. In his position as Curator for Photography at the Museum of Technology in Vienna, Reinhart’s research led to the rediscovery of the soundtrack for Battleship Potemkin (1928, Eisenstein), composed by Edmund Meisel for the touring and distribution of the film in the West. Although today he is focused more on creative partnerships and less on his own art, his works from the late 1990s, such as tx-transform, continue to be shown and discussed.

new tools and techniques for Artworks:

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (with Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde, 2010)
IMAGO 1:1 (for Susanna Kraus, 2006)
13 x17.000 – THE DEFINITE MOTIONPICTURE (1997)
TX-TRANSFORM (1992)

new tools and techniques for Short films:

IM FREIEN (Albert Sackl, 16 mm, 23 min)
PRIMAL SOUND (Katarina Matiasek, video, 14 min, 2007)
VERTIGO RUSH (Johann Lurf, 35 mm, 19 min, 2007)
3 MINUTEN (Christoph Brunner, 35 mm, 2006)

 

THOMAS TODE   DIRECTOR, SCRIPT

Thomas Tode works in Hamburg as freelance writer, curator (Hamburg Cinematheque, Cinepolis – Architektur & Stadt im Film, among others), and filmmaker. In his research and teaching (Universities of Hamburg, Bochum, Zürich, and Vienna), he focuses on essay film, the Soviet avant-garde, and political documentary film. Special interests are films on architecture, archeology, and those made for ‘re-education’.

Film programmes, symposia and exhibitions curated by Tode include ‘Angesichts des Äußersten: Die Filme über die Befreiung der Konzentrationslager und der lange Schatten der Bilder’ (Univ. Hamburg, 2015), ‘Die erwartete Katastrophe. Luftkrieg und Städtebau 1940–45’ (Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg, 2013), ‘PhotoFilm!’ (National Gallery of Art Washington, 2012; Tate Modern London, 2010), and ‘bauhaus & film’ (Barbican Centre London, 2012; Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, Hamburg 2009), for which he tracked down film and light installation pieces by Bauhaus artists, many of which were thought lost.

Filmography:

 THE GREAT GAME: ARCHEOLOGY AND POLITICS (Digibeta, 22 min, 2011)
HAFENSTRASSE REVISITED (16mm, 87 min, 2010)
IN THE LAND OF CINEMA VETERANS. A FILM EXPEDITION AROUND DZIGA VERTOV (16mm, 86 min, 1996)
THE STAIRS IN THE PORT ( 16mm, 75 min, 1991)

Selected bibliography:

BAUHAUS & FILM (2012)
DER ESSAYFILM – ÄSTHETIK UND AKTUALITÄT (2011)
VIVA FOTOFILM – BEWEGT / UNBEWEGT (2010)
DZIGA VERTOV – DIE VERTOV-SAMMLUNG IM ÖSTERREICHISCHEN FILMMUSEUM / THE VERTOV COLLECTION AT THE AUSTRIAN FILM MUSEUM (2006)
DZIGA VERTOV – TAGEBÜCHER / ARBEITSHEFTE (2000)
CHRIS MARKER – FILMEESAYIST (1997)
JOHAN VAN DER KEUKEN: ABENTEUER EINES AUGES (1987, 1992)

 

SIEGFRIED FRIEDRICH   COMPOSER

Siegfried Friedrich studied composition (under Iván Eröd and Erich Urbanner) and computer music (under Tamás Ungváry) in Vienna, followed by postgraduate studies in film scoring (with Klaus Peter Sattler) and a PhD in musicology (with Hartmut Krones and Gernot Gruber). Recipient of numerous awards (including First Prize, E. V. Karajan-Kulturfonds 2005 and the Cité internationale des Arts Residency in Paris 2011), he writes for film and theatre as well as for the concert hall. His multidimensional understanding of his métier extends from an encyclopedic knowledge of historic traditions to expertise in contemporary techniques and electronic music production. Sensitive to both the purity of acoustic tone and the subtleties possible with digital manipulation, Friedrich is a true musical polyglot.       www.siegfriedfriedrich.com

Selected recent works – music for film:

MAPPA MUNDI, science-docu-fiction film (Bady Minck, LU/AT, 2015)
OPTICAL SOUND, short film made together with Elke Groen and Christian Neubacher  (AT, 2014)
THE SILENT ENEMY, silent film by H.P. Carver (US, 1930) – new soundtrack for broadcast by ARTE, 2012

DAS GROSSE STAUNENE/VIA MALA, documentary (Thomas Kaiser, CH, 2008)

 Selected recent works – theatre:

HËUTE DIE FËAHRTE (Botho Strauss), dir. W. Frank (Theater Chur 2011)
HEROS (Björn Steiert)dir. D. Lüdi (Zürich, 2011)
DER SCHACHT VON BABEL (W. Frank et al.). dir. W. Frank (Chur, 2010)

 Selected recent works – concert:

TENEBROSO for overtone singer and double bass (2014)
Undécaphonie polymétrique. À la recherche de la foire perdue for barrel organ, with Henning Ballmann (2013) (Airolo / Festival Rümlingen)
ÜBERMALUNG 1 (Schacht von Babel) für Tonband und 7 Instrumentalisten, 2010 (Künstlerhaus Wien)
STRUCTURES, RÉMINISCENSES ET GHIRLANDES II FÜR KLAVIER SOLO, 2008  (Imprimerie Basel)

 

HANNA NORDHOLT AND FRITZ STEINGROBE   ANIMATORS

 Since 1985, Hanna Nordholt and Fritz Steingrobe have collaborated on numerous animation shorts, as well as animations for documentary film (Die Getriebenen, Regie: Falko Zubairi, Germany 2006), music promos, and festival trailers (IKFF Hamburg 2014, Kurzfilmtag 2014). Their work is included on short film DVD editions, such as Mach, was Du willst, published by Kurzfilmagentur Hamburg 2007; Geschichte des Deutschen Animationsfilms: ZEITGENOSSEN, published by Absolutmedien, Berlin 2006; Kurz und Gut I and Kurz und Gut III, published by Goethe Institut, 2010.

They have lectured at short film festivals and at various Goethe institutes and universities, including Institut für neue Musik, Darmstadt and Kunsthochschule ESAP, Porto. They teach stop-motion workshops at schools, universities, and festivals. Nordholt works as guest professor for 2D and 3D animation at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg.

Their curatorial work often focuses on experimental animation and visual music, and includes a programme for ‘LAB’ International Short Film Festival Hamburg, which they head.

Selected filmography:
WUNDERKAMMERN (2011)
SILICIUM (2007)
DREI GRAZIEN (2006)
YO LO VI (2003)
PATAK (2002)

MUKUL PATEL     VOICE-OVER TEXT, SOUND DESIGNER, CO-PRODUCER

 Mukul Patel plays predominantly with sound, text, and processes. As composer and sound artist, he has collaborated with artist filmmakers and many leading contemporary choreographers. As writer, his work ranges across territories and genres – a recent book on mathematics for children was shortlisted for the 2014 Royal Society Prize, and the script of DREAMS REWIRED is his second to be voiced by Tilda Swinton. His practice displays both analytic and synthetic approaches. When existing standards fail to accommodate a vision, he develops open, efficient solutions (for example, live immersive audio-visual environments, and stereoscopic film viewers). Mukul has run tactical media labs in arts faculties and taught space to architecture students. Major influences include the music of North India, 1960s–70s conceptual practice, and the OuLiPo.

 Selected works:

SPIRAL PASS (music for Bayerisches Staatsballett, Munich chor. Russell Maliphant, 2014)
STILL/CURRENT (music for Russell Maliphant Company/ Sadler’s Wells, London and vinyl EP, 2014)
WE’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER (mathematics book for children: 96pp, Kingfisher: 2013, *shortlisted: Royal Society Prize 2014)
TEN THOUSAND WAVES (music for 9-screen installation by Isaac Julien, 2010)
FACELESS (soundtrack and script for speculative fiction film by Manu Luksch, 2007)
ORCHESTRA OF ANXIETY (participatory installation: stainless steel harp strung with razor wire, 2004, with Manu Luksch)
TWELVETWENTYONE (music for Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon chor. Russell Maliphant, 2004)

 

TILDA SWINTON   VOICE

Acclaimed Scottish actress Tilda Swinton is known for her involvement in avant-garde films, mainstream cinema and other experimental & artistic projects. She began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London before embarking on a close collaboration with filmmaker Derek Jarman. They realised a number of films together, including Caravaggio (1986), The Last of England (1988), The Garden (1990), Edward II (1991), and Wittgenstein (1993). She gained international recognition with the film Orlando (1992). Since then, she has continued to work on independent films, alongside projects for studios, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and the 2007 thriller Michael Clayton, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

Selected filmography:

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Wes Anderson, 2014)
SNOWPIERCER (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
MOONRISE KINGDOM (Wes Anderson, 2012)
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
IO SONO L’AMORE aka I AM LOVE (Luca Guadagnino, 2009)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (David Fincher, 2008)
JULIA (Erick Zonca, 2008)
MICHAEL CLAYTON (Tony Gilroy, 2007)
FACELESS (Manu Luksch, 2007)
THE DEEP END (Scott McGehee / David Siegel, 2001)
ORLANDO (Sally Potter, 1992)

 

AMOUR FOU   PRODUCTION COMPANY

Founded in Luxemburg in 1995 and in Vienna in 2001, AMOUR FOU Luxembourg and AMOUR FOU Vienna, realise artistically exceptional feature, documentary and short films for the international market with international and, most frequently, European partners. Throughout the process AMOUR FOU stands for vision and pushing the envelope, whether in regard to aesthetics, production or distribution strategies. The focus is on European independent auteur cinema and the distinctive “handwriting” of the directors who work with AMOUR FOU.The associate partners of AMOUR FOU Vienna and AMOUR FOU Luxembourg are Bady Minck and Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu.

 

BILDSCHÖN FILMPRODUKTION   CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY

www.bildschoen-filmproduktion.de

Founded 1997 by Linda Matern, BILDSCHÖN has worked to strengthen independent film and forge new paths through her productions. Wide-ranging expertise, international co-productions and a focus in Eastern Europe have made BILDSCHÖN a pathfinder in the increasingly close cultural and artistic world of Europe.

Filmography (selected):

 BINGO – TOLETZT ENTSCHEED JÜMMERS DAT GLÜCK (Gisela Tuchtenhagen and Margot Neubert-Maric, 2012)
LYRIX – THE POET HENDRIK ROST (Kirstin Büttner and Linda Matern, 2010)
THE LADY WITH THE LITTLE DOG (Julij Koltun, 2009)
FROM NOWHERE, WITH LOVE (Julij Koltun, 2009)
ZULETZT BEFREIT MICH DOCH DER TOD (Beate Middeke, 2008)
THE PUBLICAN, THE PUB AND THE PUBLIC PARTY (Gisela Tuchtenhagen and Margot Neubert-Maric, 2007)
GERMAN COWBOY (Joern Hinkel, 2006)
HERR SCHILLER HAT GEWÄHLT (Kirstin Büttner and Linda Matern, 2006)
EH SIE VERKLINGEN (Joern Hinkel, 2005)
BAUEN AUF VERGANGENHEIT – DAS STILWERK IN HAMBURG  (Christoph Schuch,  2004)
OLEG POPOV – DER SONNENCLOWN (Juri Chaschtschewatski, 2003)
IT DON’T MEAN A THING, IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING (Niels Bolbrinker, 2001)

 

AMBIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS  CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY

www.ambientTV.NET

AMBIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (AIS) is a London-based research and development company that produces critical, intermedia artwork at the intersection of society and technology. The form of the work ranges from film and sound/light installations to books, theatre/performance, and responsive environments, and typically involves public participation. The establishment of processes; the creation of tools and platforms; research, archiving and documentation; the bridging of real and virtual spaces – all are signal features of AIS projects. Founded in 2000 by Manu Luksch and codirected by her and Mukul Patel, AIS runs the ambientspace studio in East London to host public events and international artist residency programmes.

AIS has presented work internationally in a wide variety of contexts, from Tate Modern (London), Kiasma Theatre (Helsinki), NTT–ICC gallery (Tokyo) and the Sydney Biennale to the streets of Hong Kong, the hills of the Golden Quadrangle (S. E. Asia) and the Burning Man festival (Nevada).