About

Since our founding in 2008, SOLEIL FILM has established itself as a vibrant part of the Austrian film landscape. We produce high-quality cinema, television, and series projects that combine artistic ambition with accessibility. Our international scope and long-standing co-production experience have enabled us to build a sustainable network that transcends borders and fosters creative partnerships. Over the years, we have successfully realized projects that resonate both at renowned film festivals and with audiences worldwide. Our focus to date has been on feature-length documentaries and serial formats, with a strong emphasis on the urgent issues of our time. We are now increasingly directing our attention towards the production of fiction films.

We collaborate with established filmmakers, emerging voices, and new talents. Our work is internationally oriented, spanning from arthouse cinema to ambitious genre films. Our goal is to position our films at leading A‑festivals while also reaching broader audiences. Our projects have received numerous awards and have been supported by national and international funding partners, as well as television and streaming platforms. With an expanded focus on fiction films, we are diversifying our profile while continuing the success story of our documentaries. We remain committed to producing both single works and serial formats, with a strong emphasis on personal, political, and social themes.

Our creative collective consists of producers who also work as directors and writers. Despite our long-term production experience, we don’t see ourselves as traditional producers, but as creative partners who dedicate full attention to each project and accompany filmmakers on equal footing — supporting their vision both narratively and cinematically from the first concept through to distribution. We realize our projects sustainably and resource‑efficiently through Green producing. Soleil Film stands for strong visions, high‑quality execution, and stories that matter — open to new forms and always with an eye on audiences who expect more.

TEAM

Jürgen Karasek

Jürgen Karasek

Producer, Director, Writer

j.karasek@soleilfilm.at
+43 699 123 97 478

PROFIL

Jürgen Karasek

holds a Master’s degree in Theatre, Film and Media Studies, and also studied Psychology and History in Vienna. Since 2004, he has worked as a freelance director and screenwriter. His first feature film as both director and producer, Warten auf den Mond, was screened at several international festivals. His most recent short films, Novemberlichter (AT, 2013 – 30 festivals, 5 awards) and Der Ausflug (AT, 2018), both received the Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award at the Diagonale film festival.

In addition to his work as a writer and director, Jürgen is an active producer, with a focus on project development and financing.

He is a co-founder and co-owner of Soleil Film. Since the company’s launch in 2008, he has developed and produced numerous documentaries and short films. Over the years, he has participated in a wide range of advanced training seminars, workshops and pitching forums including: Berlinale Talent Campus, Maia Workshops, Zagreb Dox Pro Pitch, Baltic Sea Docs Forum, DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting, Sources2 (2011, 2013, 2016, 2017), East European Forum, Co-Pro Tel Aviv, Medimed Sitges, Re–Act Trieste, DOK.fest Munich Marketplace (2015, 2016, 2018), Equinoxe, Jihlava New Visions and Ex Oriente.

Filip Antoni Malinowski

Filip Antoni Malinowski

Producer, Director, Writer

malinowski@soleilfilm.at

PROFIL

FILIP ANTONI MALINOWSKI

emigrated from the Socialist People’s Republic of Poland to Austria as a child. He studied Film and Media Theory at the University of Vienna and Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, in Harun Farocki’s class for Art and Cinema. He is a recipient of the Award of Excellence in Fine Arts.

Active both as a producer (18 films) and as a director, his first feature film as producer and cinematographer, Warten auf den Mond, premiered in 2008 after three years of production at the Diagonale Festival in Graz.

He is a founding member of Soleil Film (est. 2008) and the director of the award-winning feature documentaries Maria muss packen (Resettlement, 33 festivals) and Guardians of the Earth (27 festivals).

Filip is a member of dok.at and AG DOK and has participated in numerous international industry events such as Berlinale Talents, Sources2, Dragon Forum Poland, Power to the Pixel London, Zagreb Dox Pro, Jihlava Emerging Producers, Baltic Forum, DOK.fest Munich Marketplace, DOK Leipzig Co-Production Meeting, New Horizons Studio, DOK Leipzig Net Lab, and East European Forum in Prague.
Since 2008, he has taught at several Austrian universities. In 2013, he was nominated for the prestigious Polish cultural award Paszport Polityki. His most recent documentary Guardians of the Earth reached audiences from China to Australia to the United States. He has been a featured speaker at TEDx Vienna at Volkstheater and at numerous public keynotes. As an expert and decision-maker, he is regularly invited to speak at specialized forums and serves on panels in public film funding.

His debut feature fiction film as director is Red Drops.

Alice Karasek

Alice Karasek

Producer, Director, Writer

a.karasek@soleilfilm.at
+43 699 190 93 777

PROFIL

Alice Karasek

studied Media and Cultural Studies at the London College of Communication (UK) and holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from Danube University Krems (Austria). She has many years of experience in television as a producer, writer, director, and editor, working primarily for Austrian public broadcaster ORF.

Alice is a founding member and shareholder of Soleil Film. Since the company’s establishment in 2008, she has been involved in numerous productions. In addition to her work as a producer, she served as concept author for the documentary Between Spotlight and Red Light, and as co-writer and co-director (together with Tristan Zahornicky) of the documentary The Künstlerhaus – Uproar/Disquiet. She is also the writer and creative developer of the TV series Klimakrach.

Sebastian Schmidl

Sebastian Schmidl

Producer, Director, Writer

s.schmidl@soleilfilm.at
+43 660 77 41 884

PROFIL

Sebastian Schmidl

Born in Vienna, studied at the Filmcollege Vienna. He works as a producer, director and screenwriter. His short and medium-length fiction films have been screened at over 100 festivals worldwide and received numerous awards — including the Austrian Film Award and honors at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His work has been nominated three times for the First Steps Award in Berlin, screened three times at Camerimage, four times in competition at the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival, and twice at the Palm Springs ShortFest in the USA.

As co-writer, he contributed to the feature film Crush My Heart (Zerschlag mein Herz), a social drama that was released in Austrian cinemas nationwide, won the prestigious Austrian Romy Award for Best Feature Film Production, and was screened at numerous international film festivals.

He is a recipient of the START Fellowship for Cinematic Arts awarded by the Austrian Ministry of Culture (BMKOES), and teaches a film course as a university lecturer at TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology).

Since June 2025, Sebastian has joined Soleil Film as a producer, director and screenwriter, focusing on theatrical feature films.

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