On the quest for identity
a turbulent cinematic journey
through the emotional depths of growing up, breaking down
and the awkward moments in between

-

An Austrian / European short film program presented on the attempt of liberating oneself from the former generation as well as the failure to do so.

Children fighting against their violent parents, Teenagers rising against their inner emptiness, Students struggling on the predicted paths that tear them apart, Robots that return to their creators after trying to find themselves in the wide world out there. And a cinematic panagram that contains all of this and everything else.


12 BOXKÄMPFER JAGEN VIKTOR ÜBER DEN GROSSEN SYLTER DEICH (MUZICOLOGĂ ÎN BEJ VÂND WHISKEY ȘI TEQUILA, PREȚ FIX) by JOHANN LURF 3 min 2009 (Austria)

3664 found film frames are projected in this ingeniously compiled sequence. Which ones the mind lingers upon will vary per viewer. Zwölf Boxkämpfer contains as many films as there are spectators. 

Johann Lurf (1982, Austria) graduated in 2009 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. Lurf makes short films and installations, and works part-time as projectionist. He counts to one of the most important avantgarde filmmakers of a young generation in Austria.


CATAFALQUE by CHRISTOPH RAINER 12 min 2009 (Austria)

Two brothers locked in the blackness of the basement.
The father persists an anonymous threat from the Off.
The both boys try tensely to reconstruct the progression;
thereby the bounds become blurred between dream and
reality, light and shadow, life and death.

Christoph Rainer is an Austrian filmmaker who graduated from the Filmacademy in Vienna in directing by Michael Haneke & Peter Patzak and is now studying at Columbia University in New York. His short films were invited to over 200 film festivals worldwide, screened at museums as the Tabakalera in San Sebastian and the MoMA in New York.


ERDBEERLAND (MAYBES) by FLORIAN POCHLATKO 32 min 2012 (Austria)

Maybes is a reconstruction, the replica of a complex emotional world made of desire and aggression: a teen film. Florian Pochlatko explores the agonies of adolescence and the rage and frustration caused by being dissatisfied with oneself.

Florian Pochlatko (1986, Austria) is studying Directing at the Filmacademy Vienna under Michael Haneke. Erdbeerland won the Award for Best short Fiction at the „Diagonale“- Festival of Austrian Film.


TJELESNA FUNKCIJA (BODILY FUNCTION) by DANE KOMLJEN 40 min 2010 (Bosnia)

A young man goes into town in a van to sell vegetables at the market. He gets in touch with a childhood friend. The low-budget Bodily Function has a completely self-sufficient form and breathes a calm that betrays a great talent. 

Dane Komljen (1986, Yugoslavia) studied film and TV directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the University of Arts in Belgrade. His films were presented at the festivals in Cannes, Rotterdam, Sarajevo, New York, Angers, Utrecht, Mumbai and many others.


REQUIEM FOR A ROBOT by CHRISTOPH RAINER 5 min 2013 (USA/Austria)

Rob, a worn out robot with a corrupt memory, drowns his sorrows of his 'screwed' existence in alcohol and asks himself the essential question: what did he do wrong?

„Requiem for a Robot“ won awards such as the TIFF Emerging Filmmaker Award at this year's Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

--

Florian Pochlatko is currently artist in residence at Bucharest AiR. His residency was made possible through the generous support of Amt der Steiermǟrkischen Landesregierung, Graz, Austria.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.bucharestair.com/