Peter Simonischek

A Birthday to Remember

Lene Thurner is standing on a train platform in Munich. She has to decide: back to Berlin where she lives, or toward the south, where at the foot of the Alps her family lives on the lonely farm “Hierankl”.

Gebürtig

A holocaust survivor now living as a respected writer in Manhattan is the only person who can identify a suspected Nazi back in his native Austria. When a beautiful reporter eager for a scoop tries to lure him back, Geburtig must decide whether to confront his past.

Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

Join Georg Riha and his team in this ORF-UNIVERSUM production and discover one of the most beautiful stretches along the Danube.Featuring a great number of aerial shots, this documentary captures the cultural and natural beauty of the entire region, as well as portraying the Alzinger family in their vineyards during the seasons.The Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is presented from unusual perspectives, offering spectacular views of this picturesque area.

Salzburg - In the Shadow of the Crags

An ancient fortress, a historic centre of true baroque, the venue of a legendary stage festival - this is the Salzburg familiar to everyone. But Georg Riha's documentary presents Mozart's city from perspectives never seen before.Unshackled by space and time the viewer enters upon a unique filmic foray into one of the world's most popular cultural centres, discovering the still unknown and hidden beauties of this fascinating city off the beaten tourist tracks.

Vienna's Forests - Jewels of Green

Vienna is surrounded by nature – a green belt encloses the city and contributes to the high quality of life in Austria’s capital.However, it is not just these woods the citizens of Vienna can name their own. The city of Vienna also owns the protected source areas in the Hochschwab and Schneeberg-Rax region, where Vienna’s Water comes from.2005 marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the green belt around Vienna. On that occasion Georg Riha and his team have produced this ORF-UNIVERSUM documentary, commissioned by the City of Vienna.Sit back and enjoy the rough beauty of the Hochschwab region, the majestic peak of Schneeberg, picturesque autumn sceneries, the „classic“ Vienna Woods and the fascinating winter wonderland of the Danube Wetland Forest National Park.

Herrenjahre

During his apprenticeship, Bruno Melzer is still full of hope that he will one day be able to escape the mediocrity of his life. But his dream of becoming the architect of his own fortune proves to be a fragile utopia: He marries a casual acquaintance while she is expecting his child. When his wife falls ill with cancer and dies years later, Melzer suddenly has to bear the responsibility of raising three children alone.

Years of Love

Vera Lenz meets up with her divorced husband Uli again after years. They have decided to sell their former house on the North Sea to finally draw a line under their failed marriage.

Love and Fear

Three sisters, played by Fanny Ardant, Greta Scacchi and Valeria Golino, struggle with their illusions, goals and desires in Margarethe von Trotta’s film adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play.

Die Fledermaus

The plot of Die Fledermaus is woven around a ball given by Prince Orlofsky.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards and witches. They soon encounter an array of old and new beasts as they clash with Grindelwald's growing legion of followers.

Countdown für die Ewigkeit

In 1980, the American professor Thomas A. Sebeok received a call that took him by surprise. He was to participate in a crisis team of the Bechtel corporation. This assembly of renowned scientists was concerned with the question of what should be done with the now accumulated quantities of radioactive waste from military and civilian use. One task was to develop notification systems that would still be able to warn of the dangers of radioactive substances 10,000 years from now.

The Magic of Laxenburg

The film tells the story of Laxenburg from 13th century, when it was used for hunting and fishing trips by the imperial Habsburg family, to modern day, a popular summer resort and a bustling international community. Today Laxenburg is also home to IIASA, the Austrian Film Archive, and the International Anti-Corruption Academy. The film will also feature these organizations, their history, and the important work they do in the field of research and diplomacy that goes far beyond Austria's borders.

Tod in Istanbul

Cologne/Bonn Airport: Detective Inspector Mark Kleinert transfers the young Turkish man Baran Sahin, who has been arrested for illegal possession of weapons, to Istanbul. Seemingly a routine operation - until Kleinert receives a call from his lover Carla Paditz, urging him to meet her in Istanbul. When Kleinert arrives at the hotel, Carla is already dead. Mark Kleinert does not realize that Jo Weiß, an undercover BKA officer, is also at the hotel at the same time and is watching him. The fact that there is an even bigger crime behind the murder of the woman on the Bosporus becomes clear after the murder of the imprisoned Baran Sahin. And when Mark Kleinert wants to know why he of all people was responsible for his transfer, his life is already in danger - and not only his.

The Mountain

It's 1922. A weather observer and his wife live in a remote cabin high in the Swiss Alps. As this drama begins, they are being joined by a third person, an Austrian who coveted the job the Swiss man had won in this bleak location. Not only that, but he also has his eyes on the Swiss man's lovely wife. The Austrian has charm, so he wins some hospitality from the couple. The three live together for a little while, but the rivalry between the two men soon erupts with tragic consequences.

October November

Director Gotz Spielmann follows his acclaimed thriller Revanche with this visually captivating character study, in which a family reunion at a mountainside inn lays bare old wounds and reveals long-held secrets.

Daniel Käfer - Die Villen der Frau Hürsch

Editor-in-chief Daniel Käfer is unemployed. His magazine "Intelligence" was discontinued due to "too high a standard". Now he wants to think about his future in Ausseerland, where he spent his best summer vacations, but his return to the realm of his childhood turns out to be a dangerous labyrinth that entangles him in the dark secrets of the Ausseer people.

Daniel Käfer - Die Schattenuhr

Daniel Käfer's time out in Ausseerland is coming to an end. He has to focus on his new career. But his journey ends in Hallstatt. His acquaintance with the young Gerd Gamsjäger and his mother leads to dramatic events. In his exuberance, Käfer causes a serious accident that almost costs his young friend his life. In an effort to make amends, he gets himself into even more trouble: with a dubious treasure map, he initiates excavations in search of a man in the salt. A huge embarrassment or the start of a new future?

Gott schützt die Liebenden

The daily confrontation with the darkest abysses of the human soul has turned war reporter Paul Holland into an incorrigible cynic. Only one thing keeps him going: his love for his girlfriend Sybille. When she suddenly disappears without a trace one day, everything points to a kidnapping - but there doesn't seem to be a motive. Desperate, Paul goes in search of his beloved. Because he just doesn't want to and can't believe that Sybille is possibly dead.

Der Kaktus

After more than 20 years, the marriage of Bevon consultant Thea and car mechanic Rainer has been worn down by years of routine. Thea lacks appreciation from her family and no longer has access to her teenage daughter Janina. Her husband Rainer is still mourning his missed chance of a career as a rock star and is hopelessly at odds with his son Patrick. When Heinrich Bittner, a supposedly close friend of Thea's deceased father, suddenly moves in with the Cronpichels, Thea enjoys his presence and begins to see her life with new eyes. But is the charming and mysterious Heinrich really who he claims to be?

Einmal so wie ich will

In the middle of the South African bush, Emma decides that things can't go on like this. After 25 years of good marriage, she leaves her husband Ferdinand and moves into the unknown with her trolley case. On the ostrich farm of the solitary John, she finds the freedom she is looking for - and the challenge of her life.

The Lenz Papers

Four-part german limited serial about the baden revolution in 1848 and 1849.

Clara Immerwahr

Clara Immerwahr and her husband to be Fritz Haber are both young and gifted chemists. Their struggle for acknowledgment in nationalistic Germany during World War I lead to the development and use of the first chemical weapons.

Hermann Hesse - Blazing Summer

Everything must change, thought Hermann Hesse. In the spring of 1919, he packed his bags and left for Ticino. The horror of the First World War had thrown him off course. The poet hoped that the climate and light of the south would give him a new lease on life and creative energy beyond the confines of bourgeois conventions. With the story Klingsors letzter Sommer (Klingsor’s Last Summer), Hesse wrote himself into a summer-long intoxication that was unprecedented for him. At the precipice, however, doom and death await.

Das Beste kommt noch!

The close friendship between Arthur and Felix is put to the test when one lends the other his health insurance card. Arthur finds out that Felix is terminally ill, but Felix doesn't know it yet. However, because he doesn't have the courage to break the bad news and bitter truth to his friend, he soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and suddenly the tables are turned: Felix, who is actually terminally ill, believes that the healthy Arthur is actually going to die soon. He selflessly agrees to care for Arthur and give him a good time in the supposedly last days of his life. This actually gives Arthur a new perspective on life and Felix also starts to change: He manages to open his heart and learns to love bit by bit.

Success

For fans of history, this glimpse of Munich society in the 1920s will be a much-treasured event. The story revolves around an art-gallery manager who puts on a show featuring the scandalous works of a woman artist who committed suicide. He is unjustly accused of having committed adultery with her, and for some reason the authorities decide to make an example of him. He is imprisoned at about the same time that Hitler and the nascent Nazi party attempt the infamous Beer Hall Putsch, and the gallery manager's girlfriend and a Swiss writer valiantly (and unsuccessfully) attempt to get better justice for him. Nobody in authority, it seems, has the courage to take up the challenge of righting this particular injustice.

Measures of Men

Berlin at the end of the 19th Century. Alexander Hoffmann is an ambitious PhD student of Ethnology. When a delegation of the Herero and Nama tribes travels to Berlin during a ‘Colonial Exhibition’, he takes a special interest in their young female translator Kezia Kambazembi as subject for his studies.

Porträt eines Richters

This film is about the difference between law and justice. A national socialist is accused of having stirred up some people against foreigners. A judge has to decide whether he has done so or if his statement comes under the constitutional given freedom of speech. This is compared with a trial in the third Reich. A young woman is being accused of having a relationship with a jew. The film confronts two views of law: the judgement is only based on the current law or the judgement may be influenced by socio-political events and sense of justice.

Eine folgenschwere Affäre

Benno, commissar in the Homicide Department Munich and married to forensic doctor Andrea, finds himself one day in a seemingly unsolvable, fatal situation again. His lover Sabine, who is ironically the wife of his superior, chief commissioner Hartmut, is found murdered in her sister, Martha's home. Benno is summoned to the scene in this murder case. Hartmut can not manage the investigation as a husband and thus transfers the case to Benno. All others come under suspicion for this: his wife, his father-in-law and the widower. Everyone had a motive, everyone was at the scene. But even Benno himself comes as a perpetrator in question: On the morning of the murder his lover had put an end to him.

Der achte Tag

A medical doctor who is regarded as a specialist in retort research has been found dead. Science journalist Vera Pukall investigates the alleged suicide and uncovers the ruthless activities of a large pharmaceutical company. She receives help from Dr. Svoboda, of all people, the group's main stockholder.

Blumen für Polt

Gendarmerie inspector Simon Polt in the Weinviertel region finds it too much of a coincidence when crook Riebel is killed in a motorcycle accident and his friend Willi is found dead on the same day. But the residents of the otherwise peaceful Lower Austrian wine village make Polt's investigation anything but easy.

Sapphire Blue

Gwen has just discovered, that she's the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. Now she has to juggle with constant trips to the past, her relationships with Gideon and figuring out dark secrets surrounding the Circle.

Liebst du mich

Ex-stripper Maria endures her life alongside dog breeder Herbert. Son Paul openly rebels against his father. When Paul accidentally kills a boy, Herbert reports him anonymously to the police. A mechanic overhears and blackmails him - the story seems as stilted as if Sophocles had tried his hand at a "Derrick" episode.

Mit einem Schlag

Just as Maria is about to leave her husband after 33 years of marriage, entrepreneur Jakob collapses with a stroke. The result: amnesia, where he forgets everything in his sleep. Maria stubbornly tries to awaken his memory - to make it easier for them to separate. But his old life with its affairs remains alien to Jakob...

Dear Kurt

Kurt (Til Schweiger) and Lena (Franziska Machens) move together into an old house outside the city that is in need of renovation in order to be closer to Kurt's six-year-old son, little Kurt (Levi Wolter), and ex-wife Jana (Jasmin Gerat). But before their patchwork family happiness can really begin, little Kurt is killed in an accident - leaving behind three adults who don't know how to live with this tragic loss.

Krücke

The turmoil of the last days of the war. 13-year-old Tom loses his mother while on the run. In Vienna he meets the one-legged black marketeer 'Krücke' - a sly, cunning survivalist and at the same time an adorable, kind friend. The two find shelter with Bronka, a Jewish woman who serves alcohol to Allied soldiers and black marketeers. Tom and Krücke settle into this insecure world. Krücke plays the saxophone, Tom waits tables, until one day a return to Germany becomes possible. But the train that the one-legged man and the boy board is stranded in no man's land...

Alles Glück dieser Erde

To their big surprise, the capable waitress Gundula Kirchner receives from the estate owner Xaver Schönborn the offer to manage his stud as managing director. Gundula, who has some qualifications, seizes the opportunity and has the business under control after only a short time. But Xavers spoiled daughter Helen and especially the ambitious, but incompetent son-in-law René try by all means to drive the dedicated Gundula from the court. No one, least of all Gundula herself, suspects that Xaver is really her father.

Love Your Female Neighbor!

Two young and attractive social workers/nuns bring fresh air into a city missionary station, but are also challenged by lust and money, offered by a millionaire.

Anna and the Prince

Archduke Johann falls in love with Anna Plochl, the postmaster's daughter. Johann and his royal arranged bride both decline a dynastic alliance advised by minister Metternich in favor of their loves.

Assignment Berlin

Tracy Garret's a cop and after an incident that left one person dead, she's invited by her father to spend sometime with him in Berlin. While they were out having dinner, her father's shot. She is then informed by the German inspector assigned to her father's case that her father's a CIA operative. She then decides to investigate the case...

Emerald Green

Emerald Green is the stunning conclusion to Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red Trilogy, picking up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.

Ruby Red

On her 16th birthday, Gwendolyn Shepherd finds out that instead of her cousin, she has inherited a rare gene that allows her to travel through time.

Toni Erdmann

Convinced that his daughter has forgotten how to laugh, a father shows up unannounced while she's living abroad and bombards her with outrageous jokes.

Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free

Lou Andreas-Salomé, the woman who enraptured 19th century Europe’s greatest minds, recounts her life to Ernst Pfeiffer in this German film directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post. A published novelist, poet and essayist, Salomé’s desire to live a life free from convention scandalized society but spurred genius and passion in others, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Rée and her lover, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Under the tutelage of Sigmund Freud, she became the first female psychoanalyst.

Gegen das Schweigen - Machtmissbrauch bei Theater und Film

Insults, humiliation, violence, sexual assault - the world behind the camera and the scenes can be a nightmare for many theater and film professionals. Apparently there is a real climate of fear in some film and theater productions. Some directors, but also well-known actors, apparently abuse their power and treat those around them on set or on stage with contempt or even abuse. Individual cases have been known for years, including under #metoo. But are they really isolated cases? Or can directors and actors allow themselves anything because the system allows it? In their three-year research, the documentary filmmakers spoke to more than 200 film and theater professionals about the problems in their industry. How much responsibility do the alleged perpetrators bear for abuse of power and how much responsibility does the financiers, production companies, broadcasters and also the audience bear?

Wunderlich's World

Mimi has her hands full. Her son Felix is hyperactive, her ex-husband Johnny is a mess, her father is a chronic gambler. Then Felix signs her up for a Swiss casting show, because Mimi wanted to be a musician originally. So Mimi decides to head for Switzerland, since it could pay all their debts. But then the whole family wants to come...

Oh Shit

Dr. Dr. Dr. Jan Brauer has bred the Lorentzian butterfly. He plans to present his butterfly at the World Climate Conference in Berlin. But "Murphy" promptly escapes into the capital, triggering one catastrophe after another. Mayor Lars von Hübsch refuses to evacuate Berlin.

Biest

In order to find each other again, Lena and Andi decide to retreat to a remote holiday cabin deep in the mountains for a long weekend. When Andi finds out one morning that Lena has suddenly disappeared without a trace, the situation escalates. He goes in search of her and penetrates deeper and deeper into a mysterious and dark world of horror...

Deep Above

In the 16th century, young men put themselves in great danger to look for mysterious crystals in a tunnel in the Styrian Erzberg. Some of them never returned from searching for this symbol of perfect love. In the 20th century, the student Barbara tries to pursue this legend of her home town.

Bergfried

In the 1980s, the Italian Salvatore ends up in a small village in the Alps. Salvatore tells the villagers that he is going on vacation for two weeks. During this time, he befriends the widow Frieda, who is still mourning her husband, who never returned from the war. Salvatore also comforts 40-year-old Romy, as her husband is addicted to alcohol and is in a wheelchair. He even enters into a relationship with Erna. The nurse is forced to live with her father Stockinger, who takes good care of her son but has become embittered himself. What Erna doesn't realize is that Salvatore has a dark secret: he knows that the murderer of his entire family has settled in the small village and is seeking revenge...

Only God Can Judge Me

Ricky spent years behind bars after taking the rap for his brother Rafael and his buddy Latif after a failed robbery. Now, Latif wants to express gratitude by letting Ricky in on a coup that will bring lots of money. After some hesitation, Ricky agrees, and gets his brother Rafael on board. Everything runs smoothly, until police officer Diana turns up on the scene. A nerve-wracking cat and mouse game is set in motion. Director Özgür Yildirim’s most recent film offers insight into Frankfurt’s gangster world. As before in CHIKO – which also starred Moritz Bleibtreu – he portrays the daily life of the criminal underground scene in a large German city.

Mozart in China

Danny and Li Wei, two ten-year-old boys from Salzburg, travel to China, where, with Mozart's help, they rescue an old shadow play from the claws of a hotel chain shark.

Vertrauen ist alles

Jennifer is the capricious daughter of hotel manager Dr. Karl Blankenburg. After all sorts of escapades by the prima donna in Berlin, her father gives his daughter one last chance: to discipline her, he orders her to work as a chambermaid under a false name in his hotel in the countryside. Of course, the spoiled "little one" is quickly overwhelmed by the unfamiliar work and is watched suspiciously at every turn by the housekeeper, Karin Kern.

Sukkubus

Sometime during the 19th century in Switzerland: After a delirious night of drinking, three herdsmen who are all alone in the alps with their kettle, create a female doll from cloth and a strangely formed wooden root. When their creation comes to life in form of an evil and beautiful female demon, they have to fear for their lives...

Der Blinde

An encounter with a blind man ends unexpectedly for Susan Howard. The supposedly helpless man stuns and kidnaps her. The case is handed over by the Home Secretary to Sir John, the head of Scotland Yard. He entrusts Chief Inspector Higgins and Superintendent Lane with the investigation. Their investigations quickly lead Higgins and Lane on the trail of murder, white slavery and blackmail.

Beresina

A naive girl's love for Switzerland is put to the test in this satiric comedy. Irina is a woman from Russia who all her life has always been fascinated by Switzerland and longs to live there some day, though her notion of Swiss life has more to do with Heidi and old movies set in the Alps than reality.

The Cellar Lanes of Lower Austria - Wine Culture and the Pleasures of Life

A Kellergasse – the cellar lane – is one of the distinguishing cultural and physical features of the winegrowing region Niederösterreich – Lower Austria. There are more than a thousand of them. Until recently, wine was not only stored in the Kellergasse, but pressed and fermented there as well. Today, the Kellergassen have less to do with occupation and more with recreation. A documentary by Georg Riha follows a year in the life of this valuable cultural legacy.

Ludwig II

A dramatic retelling of the life of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, one of the most fascinating monarchs of modern times. From his accession to the throne at the age of 18 to his passionate support of Richard Wagner and his music. From his ingenuous political commitment to his obsessive construction of extravagant palaces and to his gradual withdrawal into a lonely dream world, an epic narrative of breathtaking grandeur.

Kursk

Barents Sea, August 12th, 2000. During a Russian naval exercise, and after suffering a serious accident, the K-141 Kursk submarine sinks with 118 crew members on board. While the few sailors who are still alive barely manage to survive, their families push for accurate information and a British officer struggles to obtain from the Russian government a permit to attempt a rescue before it is late. But general incompetence are against all their efforts.

The Interpreter

80-year-old Ali Ungar comes across a book by a former SS officer describing his wartime activities in Slovakia. He realises his parents were executed by him. He sets out to take revenge but finds instead his 70-year-old son, Georg, a retired teacher. Georg, who had avoided his father all his life, decides to find out more about him and offers Ali to be his interpreter.

Jedermann Remixed

Based on archive holdings from nine decades, director Hannes Rossacher has created a complete Jedermann performance and thus a unique cultural-historical puzzle from Alexander Moissi to Nicholas Ofczarek. The success story of the phenomenon "Everyman" is told in an unprecedented way.

The Canary Islands

There are few places on earth that have such a diverse variety of terrain and range of climates concentrated in a relatively small area - temperate coastline, scorching arid deserts and tundra, tropical rainforests and frozen snowcapped mountains. And there are few places that are as heavily exploited by humans, yet remain a wilderness.

Crescendo

When world-famous conductor Eduard Sporck accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, he is quickly drawn into a tempest of sheer unsolvable problems.

Silent Night: A Song for the World

This documentary tells the story of the creation and cultural impact of the world's most famous Christmas carol, composed in 1818 in Salzburg, Austria, and since then translated into about 140 languages.

An seiner Seite

Charlotte Kler has enjoyed a privileged life alongside her husband, star conductor Walter Kler, but has also jetted restlessly around the world with him. She is delighted that this is now to come to an end and the family will be reunited in Munich. But things turn out differently than she thinks: her husband secretly makes plans to take a job in New York, her daughter reproaches her and her granddaughter is not interested in her. Not a good start for Charlotte. But a chance acquaintance with a former lifeguard brings her back to what really matters in life.

Forest of Fantasies

In winter, a landscape straight out of a fairy tale; in summer, still a region to refresh mind and soul – Rosegger's forest homeland. Deeply snow-covered forests, ptarmigan, snow hares, and majestic red deer in winter; refreshing streams, blossoming fruit trees, and shy fawns in spring; cooling giant trees, lush alpine meadows, and playful chamois kids in summer; otters and noble crayfish in crystal-clear trout streams, and a magnificent display of colors in autumn – all this Peter Rosegger described in his books. More than a hundred years have passed, but what has changed most since then is the people.