Private Project

metanoia

Before exit restrictions and bans on contacts should dominate the news in March 2020, the Mountain Tribe Crew embarks on a ski touring adventure in the Ötztal Alps. An old customs hut on the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road, which is closed in winter, serves as accommodation.
The pandemic situation is worsening faster than expected. The initially euphoric mood fades and an inner tension spreads among freeriders. After extensive contact with the valley, relatives and the police, the decision is made to end the film project early. However, the quarantined Ötztal and the applicable restrictions make it difficult to travel home.

  • Flo Gassner
    Director
  • Paul Schweller
    Director
  • Flo Gassner
    Producer
  • Valentin Werner-Tutschku
    Producer
  • Flo Gassner
    Key Cast
    "Flo"
  • Valentin Werner-Tutschku
    Key Cast
    "Vali"
  • Martin Kogler
    Key Cast
    "Mascht"
  • Andreas Jenewein
    Key Cast
    "Andi"
  • Moritz Ablinger
    Key Cast
    "Mo"
  • Paul Schweller
    Cinematography
    https://paulschweller.de/en/
  • Moritz Ablinger
    Still Photography
    https://www.moritz-ablinger.com/
  • Mathias Bergmann
    Colour Grading
    http://www.mathiasbergmann.com/
  • Clemens Becker
    Sound Design
    http://www.beatsuite.de/
  • Mountain Tribe
    Mountain Tribe
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    metanoia
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Sport, Mountain, Skiing, Adventure, Alpinism, Freeride
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 15, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Austria
  • Country of Filming:
    Austria
  • Language:
    German
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Freeride Film Festival

    Europe Premiere
    Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland
  • Banff Mountain Film Festival

    Canada
    North America Premiere
    Award for "Best Film in Snow Sports"
  • IF3

    Canada
    World Premiere
  • Mendi Filmfestival

    Spain
    Festival & Tour
    Award for "Best Sport & Adventure Film"
  • Mountain Film Graz
  • Torello Mountain Film Festival

    Spain
  • Kendal Mountain Festival

    United Kingdom
    Festival & Tour
  • Krakow Mountain Film

    Poland
  • Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival - VIMFF

    Canada
    Festival & Tour
  • Ulju Mountain Film Festival

    Korea, Republic of
    Asian Premiere
  • Trento Filmfest

    Italy
  • NZ Film and Book Festival

    New Zealand
  • Sheffield Adventure Film Festival

    United Kingdom
    Award for "Judges Special Mention"
  • Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival

    Canada
  • FICMEC

    Spain
  • Mountain Film Graz

    Austria
  • Alpin Film Festival Brasov

    Romania
  • Hory a mesto

    Slovakia
Distribution Information
  • Ananda Media
    Distributor
    Country: France
Director Biography - Flo Gassner, Paul Schweller

Paul Schweller is a 20-year-old Filmmaker from Munich. He found his passion for filmmaking already back in school. After school he was the cinematographer for the film company moviejam. Together they produced four long documentaries about several topics like mental health and values in the society. In 2017 he met Flo Gassner, who became the producer and co-director of Paul in three freeride ski movies. Their latest ski film “metanoia” was selected by various film festivals around the world and won three awards to date. (eg. “Best film in Snow Sports” at Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival 2020).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The film takes place in and around a small hut on the Timmelsjoch pass which connects Italy and Austria. In summer there is a lot of traffic on the pass, but in winter the road is closed and the surrounding becomes really peaceful. Combined with the astonishing history of the Timmelsjoch this place is magical to me.
The original idea of this film was to tell a story about the long-lasting friendship between the two valleys which are connected by the pass.
But everything turned out different. We knew about the rising Covid situation that was going on in Austria, but we didn´t saw it as a big problem that could have stopped the project. We are isolated in this hut anyways going for some ski tours. What can happen?
In the next few days, we experienced exactly what can go wrong.
The Austrian valley went into lockdown and no one was allowed to leave the valley. The happy mood switched into more serious discussions on how to return home. This was the point where I realized that our original film idea wouldn´t work out anymore. But the discussion and the whole situation was so interesting. I thought “this has to be captured” without knowing that we could turn it into a film. A few weeks later we made our way through the footage and knew we had to make a film out of this. We had a lot of serious conversations in the editing room about how we show our story and what we don´t want to stage in film. In the end we decided to make the film as authentic as possible, so we took everything in the film.