Angelo
DIRECTOR(S): Markus Schleinzer COUNTRY: Austria YEAR: 2018 LANGUAGE(S): German, French SUBTITLES: German, English RUNNING TIME: 110 min
SECTION: International Competition 2019
SCREENINGS
Thursday, 03.10., 6.45 pm, kommkino
Saturday, 05.10., 1.45 pm, kinoeins
SYNOPSIS
Taken captive and brought to Europe as a child, Angelo received the education of an aristocrat and considered an exotic gem. Later, he entered Viennese society, which tolerated him discreetly but never accepted him as an equal member. This film is about colonial history and about the appropriation of body and mind. It is about interpretation and the chronology of a silencing.
Angelo Soliman (1721–1796) is a mysterious figure of Viennese history. He was first sold into slavery and put on display as part of a traveling collection, before becoming a valet and a Freemason. After he died, he was embalmed and exhibited once again as part of a cabinet of curiosities. Markus Schleinzer arranges his tableaux very carefully and depicts the life and loneliness of a man and the narrow confines of 18th-century Viennese society. From time to time, he departs from the biopic framework to discuss questions of identity, agency and the legacy of colonialism.
What’s it like, being abducted from your own country at the age of five or six? […] What does it mean, not meeting anyone who is like you for a very long time? At what point did Angelo let it slip his mind that he was different? How long is it possible to carry on like that? When do you start yearning to merge with the others around you? […] Essentially Angelo was an actor; if you can believe his first biographer, who wrote his life story 60 years after his death, then he himself contributed a great deal to the fairy tales that grew up around him.” (Markus Schleinzer)
MARKUS SCHLEINZER
Markus Schleinzer was born in Vienna in 1971. Between 1994 and 2010, he worked as a casting director for over 70 film productions and was highly involved in the making of Jessica Hausner, Ulrich Seidl and Michael Haneke films. Additionally, he starred in several films, TV-Shows or theatre productions. He especially received great critiques for his performances in Benjamin Heisenbergs Der Räuber (2010) and Stephan Richters Einer von uns (2015). While shooting Hanekes Das weisse Band in 2008 he also coached the children among the cast members. In the end, he not only prepared them for their scenes, but worked with them on set as well. This experience made him want to become a filmmaker himself. His provocative debut as an author and director, Michael, premiered in 2011 in the competition of the Festival de Cannes. The film was sold to numerous territories and received prizes all over the world.
FILMOGRAPHY
Michael (2011), Angelo (2018)
SCRIPT: Markus Schleinzer, Alexander Brom PRODUCERS: Alexander Glehr, Franz Novotny CAMERA: Gerald Kerkletz EDITOR: Pia Dumont CAST: Makita Samba, Alba Rohrwacher, Larisa Faber, Gerti Drassl, Michael Rotschopf
PRODUCTION: Film AG WORLD SALES: Joris Boyer, Playtime GERMAN DISTRIBUTOR: Patrick Horn, Grandfilm