Anja Salomonowitz
Encyclopedia
Anja Salomonowitz is an Austrian
film director
and screenwriter
, specialised on documentary films with political or social background.
and started to study dramatics and film theory at the University of Vienna
, but broke the study to change to the film academy, based in the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. There she specialised on the field of studys directing and cutting
. As a cutter she attended also the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (college for film and TV) in Potsdam-Babelsberg
, Germany
.
Her first movie which started in the cinemas was the 52 minutes documentary film You will never understand this" (2003). There she confronted herself and her family with their family's history. Her Jewish grandaunt was in a concentration camp, her nanny joined the socialistic resistance and her grandmother "did nothing".
In her one minute long, shortest short film Codename Figaro – as a contribution to the "Mozart year 2006" – she raises the ironic and politics critic question if „Le nozze di Figaro“ actually was a fictitious marriage.
"It happened just before" is a film about human trafficking. This film has an artistic clou: the woman, whose stories are told, do not appear themselves in the movie but the stories are told by other people. These people have connections to the stories because of their job. "It happened just before" is therefore also talking about usual documentary strategies.
feature films:
Short films:
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, specialised on documentary films with political or social background.
Biography
Anja Salomonowitz was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and started to study dramatics and film theory at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, but broke the study to change to the film academy, based in the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. There she specialised on the field of studys directing and cutting
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
. As a cutter she attended also the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen (college for film and TV) in Potsdam-Babelsberg
Potsdam-Babelsberg
Babelsberg is the largest district of the Brandenburg capital Potsdam in Germany. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as for Studio...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Her first movie which started in the cinemas was the 52 minutes documentary film You will never understand this" (2003). There she confronted herself and her family with their family's history. Her Jewish grandaunt was in a concentration camp, her nanny joined the socialistic resistance and her grandmother "did nothing".
In her one minute long, shortest short film Codename Figaro – as a contribution to the "Mozart year 2006" – she raises the ironic and politics critic question if „Le nozze di Figaro“ actually was a fictitious marriage.
"It happened just before" is a film about human trafficking. This film has an artistic clou: the woman, whose stories are told, do not appear themselves in the movie but the stories are told by other people. These people have connections to the stories because of their job. "It happened just before" is therefore also talking about usual documentary strategies.
Filmography
documentary films:- 2003: Das wirst du nie verstehen, 52 min.
- 2006: Kurz davor ist es passiert, 72 min.
feature films:
- 2012: Spanien (Spain), 102 min.
Short films:
- 2000: Carmen, 23 min., Video
- 2001: get to attack, 5 min
- 2002: Projektionen eines Filmvorführers in einem Pornokino, 14 min., Video
- 2005: Monument, Videoinstallation
- 2006: Codename Figaro – Mozart 2006, 1 min., Video
Awards
- 2010 "Outstanding Artist Award" of the Federal Ministry of Art in Austria
- Kurz davor ist es passiert:
- 2006: Wiener Filmpreis (Vienna Film Award)
- 2007: Caligari-Filmpreis, Internationales Forum des Jungen Films – Berlinale 2007
- 2007: Innovative Artistic Award, Mar del Plata
- 2007: New Vision Best Director Award, Alba International Film Festival
- 2007: Friedensfilmpreis der Stadt Osnabrück
- Das wirst du nie verstehen
- 2003: Audience Award, Vienna students film festival
- 2004: Prix Regards Neufs, Visions du RéelVisions du réelVisions du Réel is an international documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current name in 1995....
, NyonNyonNyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of...