Diagonale Prize from the VAM for Outstanding Production Services

coop99 filmproduktion | Antonin Svoboda
Mit einem Tiger schlafen

Directo: Anja Salomonowitz

2010 Entertainment | Martin Pfeil, David
Stöllinger, Peter Wildling, Adrian Goiginger
Rickerl – Musik is höchstens a Hobby

Director: Adrian Goiginger

Excerpt Explanatory statement on Sleeping with a Tiger: With Anja Salomonowitz’s film about Maria Lassnig, producer Antonin Svoboda and production manager Bruno Wagner have set another milestone in Austrian arthouse cinema. Antonin Svoboda’s work as a producer is characterised by pure idealism, the confidence and calmness to get involved with the director’s unusual concept and the desire to serve a genre that enjoys a unique selling point in this form. Much acclaimed and highly praised, “Sleeping with a Tiger” celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale. A hybrid film that is far more than a biopic. Anja Salomonowitz came up with a directorial concept and screenplay with the challenging task for Birgit Minichmayr of portraying 80 years of women’s lives without any masks. The result is a feminist film that does not use the radical narrative of telling the self-discovery of a female visual artist in a male-dominated art world. Maria Lassnig’s path is described as one that is nourished by vulnerability, emotion and the perception of her own body. In addition to all the production know-how that the VAM recognises with this award for outstanding achievement, it should not go unmentioned that Anja Salomonowitz awards Antonin Swoboda the certificate of the most caring producer who always looks after all team members.

Excerpt from the statement on Rickerl – Musik is höchsten a Hobby: “The young Salzburg company is committed, internationally networked and has managed to establish itself in the Austrian film industry in an impressive manner within just a few years. In addition to projects such as the international production of “The Magic Flute” and the very successful cinema film “The Fox”, they have now achieved another cinema success with “Rickerl”. Almost 60,000 cinema-goers experienced the sensitive and seemingly small story of a Viennese street musician. The ingredients that lead to cinema success in times like these are often the same: spectacular expense and established brands that are supposed to prevail against the overflow of content and mainstream-dominated works that all vie for the audience’s favour. Rickerl” was part of this exuberant offer. A film about a chain-smoking, doubting and failing protagonist who tries to put his life in order.” Rickerl” is characterised by its consistent attitude of avoiding anything that doesn’t seem authentic, honest or taken directly from life. This attitude requires courage and skill. The young film production based in Salzburg and its representatives possess these skills to a high degree.