Wolfgang Thaler

Rural policewoman Andrea wants to end her marriage and become a detective inspector in the city. After a birthday party, her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car. In a state of shock, Andrea commits a hit-and-run.

The long-lost bon vivant Mike Bittini learns that his brother has fallen into a coma. He returns to his family, sneaks in like a hawk in the chicken coop and mixes things up properly. The uncle comes to help, brings chaos and finds love.

Richie Bravo, once upon a time a successful pop star, chases after his faded fame in wintry Rimini. Trapped between permanent intoxication and concerts for busloads of tourists, his world starts to collapse when his adult daughter breaks into his life.

Kathrin sofre de uma doença renal e precisa urgentemente de um transplante. Ela espera que seu marido Arnold a ajude, mas ele é um arquiteto de sucesso no meio de um grande projeto e tem medo de fazer a doação. Até que Götz, um amigo do casal, se voluntaria imediatamente para salvar a vida de Kathrin, causando uma briga descontrolada entre o casal que expõe todas as fragilidades do relacionamento.

A sophisticated hotel somewhere on the French coast. Silvia and Gustav meet here, they have recently split up after 19 years of marriage. But they know each other well, and a fight begins in which Silvia always seems one step ahead. So she quickly realizes that Gustav's new, younger girlfriend is already expecting a child from him. The secret meeting between Silvia and Gustav takes a new turn when Gustav suddenly finds out that the conference center in Toulouse, where he is allegedly staying, was blown up in a terrorist attack.

Joana and Valentin Dorek are a married couple going through a crisis. This prompts them to take a trial session with a couple’s therapist. In the therapist’s consulting room they start off with their standard programme: she won’t stop talking and he isn’t even listening. The broken communication between the couple is a real challenge for the therapist. He is almost at his wits’ end when his mobile rings and a surprising message brings chaos into their therapy session.

Africa. In the wild expanses, where bush-bucks, impalas, zebras, gnus and other creatures graze by the thousands, they are on holiday. German and Austrian hunting tourists drive through the bush, lie in wait, stalk their prey. They shoot, sob with excitement and pose before the animals they have bagged. A vacation movie about killing, a movie about human nature.

Em 1936, fugindo do nazismo na Europa, o ilustre escritor austríaco de origem judaica Stefan Zweig desembarca no Novo Mundo, percorrendo Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Buenos Aires, Nova York e Petrópolis. Apaixonado pelo Brasil, inicia a escrita de um novo livro, tendo a nova terra como tema, e é na cidade imperial que decide se instalar em 1941. Porém, atormentado pelo crescimento da intolerância, da barbárie e do autoritarismo na Europa, e sentindo-se impotente em não poder ajudar seus conterrâneos a escapar do horror nazista, Zweig sucumbe aos fantasmas do exílio.

Mae quit school and ran away from home. After her brother’s death her family is broken. Only his red shoes (Chucks) remain. Mae has to start working in a social institution where she meets Paul. He is funny, sensitive, takes Mae as she is - and he is terminally ill. In a book named Chucks Mae writes down her own story about growing up between life and death: wild, tender and absolutely honest.

O jovem Theeb inicia uma perigosa jornada junto a tribo beduína que vaga pelo deserto da Província de Hejaz, localizado no Império Otomano. O menino passa seus dias brincando com o irmão mais velho Hussein. A vida dos viajantes muda com a chegada de Max e Marji, um oficial do exército britânico e seu guia. Eles pedem o auxílio do grupo para localizarem um poço romano que encontra-se em um perigoso território de caça.

“Se os edifícios pudessem falar, o que diriam sobre nós?” Cathedrals of Culture oferece seis respostas para esta questão. O projeto, filmado inteiramente em 3D, permite que seis edifícios emblemáticos e muito diferentes falem por si, examinando a vida humana a partir da perspetiva de uma estrutura feita pelo homem. Os edifícios são manifestações materiais do pensamento e da ação humana: a Filarmónica de Berlim, um ícone da modernidade; a Biblioteca Nacional da Rússia, um reino de pensamentos; Halden Prison, a prisão mais humana do mundo; o Instituto Salk, um mosteiro científico na costa da Califórnia; a Oslo Opera House, uma simbiose futurista da arte e da vida; e o Centro Pompidou, uma máquina de cultura moderna. O filme explora a forma como cada um desses ícones reflete a nossa cultura e acolhe a nossa memória coletiva.

Hope, the third film in the PARADISE TRILOGY, tells the story of the 13-year-old Melanie. While her mother (Teresa) travels to Kenya, Melanie spends her holiday in the Austrian countryside at a strict diet camp for overweight teenagers. Under the supervision of a tattooed trainer and a creepy doctor, the teenagers attempt to do sports during the day and secretly get drunk in the evening. Between physical education and nutrition counseling, pillow fights and her first cigarette, Melanie falls in love with the doctor who is 40 years her senior.

Second film in Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy. A devout Catholic woman practises her religion at home and in the local community, but is unprepared for the reappearance of her estranged husband, who is a Muslim.

Teresa, mulher dos seus cinquenta anos, austríaca, embarca de férias para um hotel de praia no Quênia, assim como milhares de europeus fazem. Muitas mulheres vão para lá à procura de sexo com os negros locais. Teresa deseja sexo, como as amigas, mas gostaria de um pouco de atenção, por se sentir velha, gorda e mal amada. Alguns homens ali até parecem querer dar esse amor a Teresa. Mas nesse meio de prostituição e exploração, precisamos saber, realmente, quem explora e quem é explorado.

Termites are underrated. They build high rises without any technical devices that are, according to scale, 25 times higher than the the Empire State Building in New York. They are the only animals that have managed to build an air-conditioning system without electricity. How do they do it?

Um exame sobre as vidas, necessidades, problemas e esperanças de prostitutas da Tailândia, Bangladesh e México.

Gangster boss Carlos orders the dodgy Viennese junkyard owner Harry to bring him a bag from Poland. Harry passes the order on to his "best man" Schorsch. Schorsch, not exactly the brightest, is currently without a driver's license and completely fixated on the 24-hour car race of Le Mans. So he gives the order to Mao and sends in their place the takeaway lessees Hans and Max to Poland. Their journey leads to a seemingly endless drug trip full of extraordinary phenomena.

A nurse from the Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason. Both are looking for work, a new beginning, an existence, struggling to believe in themselves, to find a meaning in life..

Daredevil mountain climbers on their attempt to break yet another speed climbing record.

Timo Novotny labels his new project an experimental music documentary film, in a remix of the celebrated film Megacities (1997), a visually refined essay on the hidden faces of several world "megacities" by leading Austrian documentarist Michael Glawogger. Novotny complements 30 % of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. Alongside the Japanese metropolis, Life in Loops takes us right into the atmosphere of Mexico City, New York, Moscow and Bombay. This electrifying combination of fascinating film images and an equally compelling soundtrack from Sofa Surfers sets us off on a stunning audiovisual adventure across the continents. The film also makes an original contribution to the discussion on new trends in documentary filmmaking. Written by KARLOVY VARY IFF 2006

Is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible? Where can we still find it in the 21st century? Workingman's Death follows the trail of the HEROES in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out GHOST among the sulphur workers in Indonesia, finds itself face to face with LIONS at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, mingles with BROTHERS as they cut a huge oil tanker into pieces in Pakistan, and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping for a glorious FUTURE.

Is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible? Where can we still find it in the 21st century? Workingman's Death follows the trail of the HEROES in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out GHOST among the sulphur workers in Indonesia, finds itself face to face with LIONS at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, mingles with BROTHERS as they cut a huge oil tanker into pieces in Pakistan, and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping for a glorious FUTURE.

Year after year hundreds of thousands of fans line the route of the Tour de France, cheering on their heroes and willing them to victory, while millions of viewers worldwide tune in on their televisions. Academy Award-winning director Pepe Danquart, fascinated by the spectacle of the three week race, chose to focus on the courage, the pain and the fear of the riders of the Tour. Training his lens on German superstar sprinter Eric Zabel and his loyal domestique Rolf Aldag, Danquart captures the thrill of the race and the teamwork behind the stars of the peleton. He also shines light on the Tour's supporting cast - the director sportifs, masseurs, and, of course, the wildly enthusiastic fans. Reveling in the stunning landscape - from the Alps to the Pyrenees to the Massif Central to Paris - and with a nice dollop of Le Tour's history, HELL ON WHEELS transcends the sport it celebrates to reveal an astonishing human endeavor.

Three loser-type ex-students who earn too little money and don´t get laid as much as they want, try to change that by producing a home made porn movie starring themselves. They loan money from a pimp and begin casting the girls. When filming starts they find out that sex in front of the camera is hard work. Also you should know how to work a video camera. Frustration, relationship problems and cabin fever culminate in a dope induced garden orgy. But is it a film?

The Austrian region of Hallstatt-Dachstein features breathtaking landscapes, crystal clear lakes and a deep historic relevance: During the Hallstatt era, 2500 years ago, the celtics built an empire on the ancient salt-mines of the region. Using the latest CGI techniques, dramatic reenactments and outstanding nature photography director Wolfgang Thaler lets this fascinating region come to life.

After screwing up a money exchange a Viennese small-time crook accompanied by a Russian hostess hits the road to the East.

É o dia mais quente do verão. É o verão mais quente de todos os tempos. Na periferia de Viena, na terra-de-ninguém entre a auto-estrada e os hipermercados, sufoca-se. Para as famílias burguesas que habitam monótonas casas pré-fabricadas, idênticas umas às outras, o tédio solapa qualquer iniciativa. Em roupas de baixo, biquínis ou sem nada, as pessoas se arrastam pelo asfalto. A temperatura aumenta. Paira no ar uma atmosfera de violência latente. Vai começar uma jornada de música e jogos, sexo e violência. Dias repletos daquela estranha sensação de amortecimento do desejo de amar, da perda do amor e, o mais terrível, da esperança de um dia encontrá-lo. Dias de Cão, em registro documental, se passa nos "dias de cão", referente ao período mais quente do verão europeu, entre 24 de julho e 23 de agosto. O nome vem da constelação de Cão Maior, a mais presente nos céus durante o verão.

FRANKREICH WIR KOMMEN is a highly enjoyable documentary, obviously intended for TV, but showing at film festivals. It shows us the highlights of the 1998 World Cup Championships in France through the eyes of several interesting and diverse fans of the Austrian national team. Entertaining, even for those not interested in football.

Documentary about Mikhael T. Kalashnikov, inventior of the AK-47 assault rifle. The story of a tragic hero whose name will be synonymous with struggle and terrorism forever.

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

An afternoon in the biggest fair of Germany.

A family has the death of a pregnant daughter on its conscience. Their hollow understanding of tradition leads them to insist on revenge by the sword, and so the girl's boyfriend must die.

A film about ignorance, intolerance and the lack of responsibility in people. A political film about human kindness, which in many of the so-called "incidents on the border" has been sadly missing.

Two women in two different countries leading different lives. One lives in Austria, one in Yugoslavia, yet their lives become strangely entangled for a moment in time. What if you wake up in somebody else's head and the city around you isn't the one you used to know?

A film about news, life and death. Before the media became so prevalent, we were concerned about our immediate neighborhood. At the end of the day, news was the subject of our conversations, but now it's possible to converse with someone at the other end of the globe. We do it all the time. It's simple. The world has become one big neighborhood. Now Headline News has replaced the back fence. That's the news service of the eigthies. It's a new idea and a new approach.

The Hartmut-Wolf-System is a relationship between two people which adheres to strict internal and external rules. The Hartmut-Wolf-System leads to self-destruction. A face à la viennoise.