Private Project

FATA MORGANA

Austrian experimental documentary maker Peter Schreiner undertakes a psychoanalytic quest for human existence. It’s a cross between Freud and Sartre, magical and minimalist, as long as you dare. Two wrinkled lovers, marked by life, expose their deepest inner emotions. Giuliana compares the vaults of her spirit with closed doors that you ‘have to open cautiously'. 'But,' Christian wonders, 'does that make you happier?' They talk slowly and calmly, looking for the right words for their inner demons. It all comes down to reason and feeling and where the two meet. About reality that looks both familiar and alienating. And about the impossibility of understanding yourself - let alone anyone else. Schreiner’s magnum opus is spiritualising but also stimulating. Majestic panoramic landscape shots fade into close-ups of faces, meticulously examined by the camera. As such, Schreiner is hard yet humane, merciless yet tender.

(Chinlin Hsieh, IFFR, 2013)

  • Peter Schreiner
    Director
  • Peter Schreiner
    Writer
  • Peter Schreiner
    Cinematography
  • Peter Schreiner
    Editing
  • Peter Schreiner
    Producer
  • Giuliana Pachner
    Key Cast
  • Christian Schmidt
    Key Cast
  • Awad Elkish
    Key Cast
  • Johannes Schmelzer-Ziringer
    Sound-recording, -mixing, Sounddesign
  • Maria Schreiner
    Assistant director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2013
  • Country of Origin:
    Austria
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Libya
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    HD XDCAMEX
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International premiere: Int. Filmfestival Rotterdam

    Int. Premiere
  • Diagonale '13, Graz, Austria
  • Bradford International Filmfestival '13, Great Britain
  • New Horizons International Filmfestival '13, Poland
  • Bildrausch - Filmfest Basel '13, Switzerland
  • Transilvania International Filmfestival '13, Cluj, Romania
  • 48. Karlovy Vary International Filmfestival '13, Czech Republic
  • 37th São Paulo International Filmfestival, Brazil
  • 42nd Festival du nouveau cinema 2013, Montreal, Canada
  • copenhagen architecture x film festival 2014, Copenhagen, Danmark
Distribution Information
  • echtzeitfilm - Peter Schreiner Filmproduktion
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
  • sixpackfilm
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Theatrical
Director Biography - Peter Schreiner

born 1957 in Vienna
studies at University of Music and Performing Arts,
Department Film and Television, Vienna

films since
1982

1982 Glaring Light (16mm, bw, 120 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
1983 First Love (16mm, bw, 100 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
1985 Children Film (16mm, bw, 110 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
1986-88 On The Way (16mm, bw/col, 120 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
1988-91 The Cimbers (16mm, bw, 116 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
1993-95 Blue Distance (16mm, bw, 95 min., sc, dir, ed)
2004-06 Bellavista (DV-35mm, bw, 117 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
2007-09 Totó (DV-35mm, bw, 128 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
2010-12 Fata Morgana (HD-DCP, bw, 140 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)
2013-15 Lampedusa (HD-DCP, bw, 130 min., sc, dir, cam, ed)

Awards:
Main Diagonale Award (Best Austrian Documentary 2006/07)
Advancement Award for Cinematic Art 2009
Diagonale Award (Best Cinematography, Documentary Film 2009/10)
"Big Stamp" for the best regional film 2010, Int. Filmfestival ZagrebDOX, Croatia 2009
IFFI-Award 2016 for Best Documentary, Prize of the Town of Innsbruck, Austria 2016
Mirabile Dictu ICFF - Award, "The Silver Fish" for best director, Rome 2016
Human Time - Award for Best Featurefilm, Human District IFF, Belgrade 2016
Winner of the "Critical Eye-­‐screening", Lume Int. Filmfestival, Brazil 2011
best cinematography, 4. Int. Documentary Drama Filmfestival, Saratov, Russia 2007

'Personale' (retrospective),
Diagonale 2010

festivals and screenings:

Int. Forum des Jungen Films - Berlin, Mostra Int. d'Arte Cinematografica - Venezia , Karlovy Vary Int. Filmfestival, Int. Filmfestival Rotterdam, São Paulo Int. Filmfestival, Buenos Aires Int. Filmfestival, DocLisboa Filmfestival, Denver Film Festival, Bradford Int. Filmfestival, Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Films, Documenta-Madrid, Era New Horizons - Wroclaw, Split Int. Festival of New Film, Duisburger Filmwoche, Saratov Sufferings Int. Filmfestival, DocPoint Helsinki, Full Length Festival Lublin, Austrian Cultural Forum - New York, Mediterranean Experience - Reggio/Calabria, ZagrebDox Int. Documentary Film Festival, Jeonju Int. Filmfestival - South Korea, European Film Week Tehran, Transilvania Int. Filmfestival, Cinédécouvertes Competition - Belgium, dfi-Symposium "Töne sehen - Bilder hören" - Köln, Italian American Institute - New York, European Film Days - Tokyo, Lume Int. Filmfestival, Int. Film Festival "A man`s shadow"- New Caledonia, Bildrausch Filmfestival Basel, Isola Cinema Int. Filmfestival, Festival du nouveau cinema - Montreal, Copenhagen architecture x film Festival, Shadow Filmfestival Amsterdam, Würzburger Filmwochenende, Int. Filmfestival Innsbruck, Filmschau Visionary - sixpackfilm, Walserherbst, Lessinia Filmfestival, Der Neue Heimatfilm - Freistadt, Riga Int. Filmfestival, Trento Filmfestival, Mirabile Dictu Int. Catholic Filmfestival - Rome, Human District Int. Filmfestival - Belgrade, A Film for Peace Int. Filmfestival - Udine, Indie International Film Festival Belo Horizonte - Brazil, Cinemigrante International Filmfestival - Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sose International Filmfestival - Armenia / International Filmfestival Carthago, Tunis, Tunisia / Festival Internacional de Cine de Autor, Guadalajara, Mexico / Viennale - Vienna International Film Festival a. o.

television:
ORF (Kunststücke), OKTO (Oktoskop)

contact:
Peter Schreiner Filmproduktion
Grinzinger Allee 37a
A-­‐1190 Vienna, Austria
E-­‐mail: office@echtzeitfilm.at

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Based on the experience that cinematic work is always connected to authenticity - considering that camera and microphone can, after all, even in the conventional movie only reproduce what is visible and audible at the moment of recording - it appears reasonable to make conscious use of this 'principle' and extend it over the whole of the project in all of its mental and physical aspects. This means that it is necessary to take note and advantage of all the given circumstances at any time during production. Apart from the mental states of both actors / actresses and the people behind the camera, as well as the relationships formed between them, this includes also spatial circumstances, the time, as well as lighting and weather conditions when recording. Consequently the specifications of content, dramaturgy and text need to be handled in a way as to leave them 'open' in some form.