TOGETHER WE GROW portrays farmers, Chris and Owen, a mixed-race gay couple in Philadelphia, and their 7-year-old son Bryan, their groundbreaking work, growing culturally important seeds, preserving their stories and fighting for food justice.
AT, 2026, 90min – in postproduction
Credits
Director & concept Ruth Kaaserer Camera Isabelle Stachtchenko, Miryam Charles Sound Tiago McNicoll-Castro-Lopes, Louis Aka-Trudel editor Joana Scrinzi, Ruben Rocha, Ruth Kaaserer Producers Jürgen Karasek, Ruth Kaaserer Co-Production Cicada Films (AT)
Shooting Format Kodak S-16mm analogue
Funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts, ÖFIplus, ORF Film/Fernsehabkommen, City of Vienna Culture, Land Tyrol Culture, Land Salzburg Culture , Heinrich Böll-Stiftung, IPMF Local Filmmakers Fund
When disturbing testimonies of police brutality against Roma settlers spread from a nearby village in eastern Slovakia, IGOR — a Roma survivor of a 2013 police raid — steps in to help. He must face not only images of violence that begin to return to his mind, but also the limits of what someone on the margins of society can do, including his effort to get his young nephew MARTIN out of the settlement. Through children’s battle games and the magical dimension of recurring nightmares, the film highlights the importance of collective memory and understanding in a deeply divided society.
AT/SK, 2027, 90min – in postproduction
Credits
director & concept Kristina Leidenfrostova Camera Marie Zahir Sound Denisa Uherová EDITOR Marek Bihun Dramaturgy Viera Čakanyova Producers Alice Karasek, Jürgen Karasek (AT), Matej Sotnik (SK) CO-PRODUCTION Guča Films (SK)
pitches/programs
Participation Jihlava New Visions 2023 Dokfest Munich Marketplace 2024
Funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts, ÖFIplus, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, City of Vienna Culture, Zukunftsfonds of the Republic of Austria, Kult Minor, Land Burgenland Culture, Slovak Cash Rebate
Ukrainian actor Ivan Blindar lives on the edge, balancing theater and frontline volunteer work. When his rising stardom coincides with intensified aid projects, he is pushed past his limits – yet he has to carry on… A multi-layered portrait of a driven individual and the longing for normality in wartime.
AT/UKR, 2027, 90 min – in production
Credits
Director & CONCEPT Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk Camera Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Ivan Morarash Sound Mykhailo Zakutsky EDITING Gerhard Daurer Producers Jürgen Karasek, Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Alice Karasek Co-production Mellivora Production (UKR) Line Producer Mellivora Diana Nazaruk
Funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts, City of Vienna Culture, Zukunftsfonds of the Republic of Austria, Ukrainian Film Academy & Netflix
For the sake of her daughter’s future, Roma filmmaker Vera Lacková embarks on a journey to break both a personal and a collective curse. In dialogue with Roma witches and scientists, she and her family co-create a fairytale as a working method to rewrite their story. As a hybrid documentary that blends reality with staged fairytale scenes and first-person reflection, the film confronts systemic racism, examines intergenerational trauma, and searches for pathways to healing within the Roma community.
AT/SK/CZ, 2027, 90 Min – financing
Credits
director & concept Vera Lacková Camera Denisa Buranová Sound Klára Jašková Dramaturgy Bernadette Weigel, Jan Gogola ml. Producers Jürgen Karasek, Alice Karasek (AT), Vera Lacková, Peter Kerekes, Tereza Tokárová (SK), Tereza Šimiková (CZ) Co-production Media Voice (SK), Kerekes Film (SK), Caliber Pictures (CZ)
pitches/ programs
Participation Ex-Oriente 2023/24 & East Doc Forum 2024 ProPro 2023 CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator 2022 EFM Doc Toolbox Programme 2022 American Filmshowcase 2024
Roughly ninety percent of the inhabitants in southern Carinthia spoke Slovenian prior to 1910. The average percentage today is in the single digits. In her essayistic documentary, Andrina Mračnikar gives a personal shape to a highly political urgency. What happens when a first language is taken from daily life? What must politics do to counter the disappearance of a language whose protection is established in the constitution? (Diagonale, Astrid Peterle)
AT/SI, 2022, 99 MIN
Credits
Concept & Director Andrina Mračnikar DoP Judith Benedikt Editor Gerhard Daurer Sound Julij Zornik, Bertram Knappitsch, William Eduard Franck, Andreas Hamza Composer Peter Kutin Production Manager Natalija Hartmann Producers Jürgen Karasek, Danijel Hočevar (SI) Co-production Vertigo (SI)
Awards / Festivals
Winner Audience Award Diagonale 2022 – nationale Premiere Winner Vesna for Special Achievments Festival of Slovenian Film Portorož 2022 Winner Štiglič-Award by the Slovene Directors Guild Winner Butnskala Award AIPA
Kino Otok Izola 2022 – national Premiere Slovenia FilmFestival Cottbus 2022 – international Premiere Festival des neuen Heimatfilms Freistadt 2022 Filmfestival Radstadt 2022 Dokudoc Maribor 2022 K3 Filmfestival Villach 2022 Austrian Film Week Israel 2023 Balkan Film Week Leipzig 2023 Biennale Bavaria Internat. 2023 Screenings in: San Pietro al Natisone & Triest in coopearation with Kinoatelje
Funding
Production funded by Austrian Ministry for Culture and Arts, ORF Film-/Fernsehabkommen, CarinthiJA2020 (Country of Carinthia), Filmstandort Österreich, Zukunftsfonds of the Republic of Austria, Slovene Film Center, Viba Film Studios, RTV Slovenija
After 21 years of continuous failure in UN climate change negotiations 195 nations, 20.000 worldwide negotiators meet at a private airport shielded by the military in the north of Paris for a last attempt to save our planet. Behind closed doors these delegates have to agree on the first global climate change agreement that shall operate for the next decades and be a milestone in multilateral diplomacy. An agreement that will impact each human on earth, born or unborn. A negotiation that will decide if we as a species can survive.
“Guardians of the Earth” shows the battle towards this monumental agreement through the perspective of major players as the head of the UNFCCC, the fossil fuel exporting countries and the most vulnerable states to climate change.
Unreleased footage gives insight into the process behind closed doors and reveals the conflict of a globalized society: the dilemma between solidarity versus national self-interest – a fight between economic growth and massive loss of lives. As sea levels keep rising, glaciers are melting, heat-waves, droughts and Super-Typhoons become more frequent – time is running out to act – climate change is our reality.
While showing the complex progress to the final success of the agreement, the film also exposes the crucial question for the viewer: Can mankind unite to challenge the biggest threat of our times?
AT/DE, 2017, 86 MIN
Credits
Director Filip Antoni Malinowski Editor Frank Brummundt Cinematography Jakob Fuhr, Attila Boa, Filip Antoni Malinowski Sound Helge Ole Haack, Peter Rösner, Sergey Martynyuk mit Musik von Nils Frahm Producers Jürgen Karasek, Filip Antoni Malinowski Co-production Perfect Shot Films, Berlin Trainee & Set Management Stephan Podest
Featuring Saleemul Huq (Bangladesch), Christiana Figueres (UNFCCC), Helmut Hojesky (Österreich), Laurent Fabius (COP Präsident), Naomi Klein (Kanada), Peter Woolcott (Australien), Yeb Sano (Philippinen), Carole Dieschbourg (Luxemburg), Ronny Jumeau (Seyschellen), Noora al-Alamer (Bahrain), Tony deBrum (Marshallinseln), John Kerry (USA), Al Gore (USA), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Österreich), Donald Trump (USA)
Awards / Festivals – Selection
Participant of Zagreb Dox Pitch, Leipzig Co-production Meeting, Baltic Sea Forum for Docs, Marketplace dokfest München
CPH:DOX Kopenhagen, One World Prague, Dokpoint Helsinki, Watch Docs Warschau, Diagonale Graz, DocsMX Mexiko, Movies That Matter The Hague, Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, This Human World Film Festival Wien, Transitions Film Festival Melbourne, Cinemaambiente Torino, ECOCUP Moskau, EUCFF China, Washington DC Environmental Film Festival, European Climate Diplomacy Week Sydney & Canberra, Stanford University FF, European Film Festival Paliíc, Climate Diplomacy Week Belgrade, New Earth International Film Festival Kraków, Green Fest Belgrade Serbia, New Way FF Madrid, Move It! Dresden, Rokumentti FF Helsinki, China International Film Week, Instidoc Maputo Mozambique, EU Climate Diplomacy Day – Islamabad, Pakistan, Glocal FF Schweden, COP 24 Katowice, Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental de Cali FINCALI, Colombia, Human Rights Nights Bologna, Italy, Inkafest Peru, CliMates Austria, Eco Film Festival London, Wake Up Europe: Turin, London, Berlin, Brüssel, Paris, Madrid, Göthe Institut, Extinction Rebellion Berlin, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Chile, Another Way FF & MK2: Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Badajoz, Cadiz, Malaga, Toledo, Take One Action (UK), COP26 Glasgow
Funding
Austrian Filminstitute, MEDIA Creative Europe, German Federal Filmboard, ORF Film & Fernsehabkommen, Bayerischer Rundfunk BR, FFF Bavaria, DFFF, Misereor Stiftung
Gwendolyn is in her mid-sixties, barely weighs 52 kg and is a three-time world champion in weightlifting. Battling an aggressive form of cancer, the retired anthropologist should really take a step back, but this is far from what Gwendolyn has in mind. She is training to become world champion once again. Supported by her devoted trainer Pat, her son Joseph and her husband Charlie, 20 years her junior, her fight against physical and personal limits begins.
AT, 2017, 85 MIN
Credits
concept & director Ruth Kaaserer Cinematography Serafin Spitzer Sound Tong Zhang Editor Joana Scrinzi Producers Jürgen Karasek, Filip Malinowski
Awards / Festivals
Nomination Silver Eye Award Jihlava 2017 Erste Bank Mehrwert-AwardViennale 2017 Winner Franz-Grabner-Award 2018 Winner Best Camera (Documentary) Diagonale 2018 for Serafin Spitzer Winner Best Editing (Documentary) Diagonale 2018 for Joana Scrinzi
DOK Leipzig 2017 (World Premiere, official Competition) Viennale 2017 (Austrian Premiere) IDFA Panorama 2017 Diagonale 2018 One World Prague 2018 Kiew Docudays UA 2018 Filmfestival Millenium Brüssel 2018 Sofia International FF 2018 Festival Finale Plzen 2018 Anthology Film Archives, New York 2018 Raindance, London 2018 Cambridge Filmfestival 2018 Fünf-Seen-Filmfestival 2018 Filmplus Köln 2018 Dok Film Woche FSK Kino, Berlin 2018 Close Up Film Center, London 2019
funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts, Land Tyrol Culture, Land Styria Culture, City of Vienna Culture, Land Salzburg Culture, Otto Mauer Fonds
Jowan Safadi, an Israeli Palestinian living in Haifa, is a well-known musician in the Middle East and a true free spirit. With his band Fish Samak, he delivers songs that contain political and socially critical as well as emotional and philosophical contexts. Jowan is not afraid to express his thoughts freely, even when addressing taboo topics. His lyrics—profound and provocative—have provoked controversial reactions in many ways: on the one hand, he was charged with “incitement to terrorism” by the Israeli police; on the other hand, his last tour through Jordan ended in prison and accusations of incitement.
Recently, however, his 15-year-old son Don moved in with him. Now Jowan faces a whole new challenge: on the one hand, he must continue to fight for his ideals and his music, but at the same time he must also take on paternal responsibilities and provide his son with a suitable environment.
AT, 2017, 95 MIN
Credits
Director Fernando Romero-Forsthuber Editor Wolfgang Auer Cinematography Jakob Fuhr, Martin Putz, Falko Lachmund, Rabia Salfiti Sound Feras Shehadeh Concept Ari Y. Richter, Jürgen Karasek Producers Jürgen Karasek, Filip Antoni Malinowski
Awards / Festivals / PITCHES
Best Documentary Frontdoc FF 2018, IT
DOK Leipzig 2017, DE | Haifa Independent FF 2018, IL | Crossing Europe FF 2018, AT | Ethnocineca FF 2018, AT | CinéDOC-Tbilisi FF 2018, GE | DocsBarcelona FF 2018, ES | DOK.fest München 2018, DE | Festival Internacional de Cine Político 2018, AR | Festival Internacional de Cine por los Derechos Humanos 2018, CO | Fünf Seen Filmfestival 2018, DE | NAFA Int. Ethnographic Film Festival 2018, RO | WOMEX 2018, ES | International Festival of Mediterranean Documentary and Reportage 2018, FR | Festival DocsBarcelona Valparaíso 2018, CL | DokuBaku Int. Documentary FF 2018, AZ | Arab Film Festival 2018, DE | Cinemed Festival 2018, FR | DUHOK Int. FF 2018, IQ | Frontdoc FF 2018, IT | Marda Loop Justice FF 2019, CA
Developed at: CoPro TelAviv, dokfest Munich Marketplace, East European Forum Prague, Medimed Sitges
Funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts, City of Vienna Culture
“Olya’s Love” is a film about a lesbian couple living in Russia. Olya is a fighter, active member of the LGBT-community, her partner Galiya doesn´t want to let politics rule her life. Their love is strong, and they want to have a baby together. When Russian Duma launches their discriminating laws against homosexuals, Olya starts to fight even stronger. But at the same time their love is put to the test.
AT/RU, 2014, 68/52 MIN
Credits
Director & DoPKirill Sakharnov CastOlya Kuracheva, Galiya Galeeva EditingMaxim Kliewer (aea), Kirill Sakharnov SoundHorst Schnattler ProducersKsenia Sakharnova, Filip Antoni Malinowski, Jürgen Karasek, Vlad Ketkovich Co-productionbetween Soleil Film (AT), SugarDocs (RU), Ethnofund (RU)
Awards / Festivals
IDFA Amsterdam 2014 – World Premiere Artdoc Fest Moskau 2014 This Human World FF Wien 2014 Riga International Documentary Filmfestival 2014 LGBT History Month Bukarest 2015 Tamyn Naiskulttuuripäivät 2015 50 Shades of Feminism, Tampere 2015 Diagonale Filmfestival Graz 2015 Filmfestival Assen 2015 Boston LGBT Filmfestival 2015 Krakow Filmfestival 2015 Biografilmfestival International Celebration of Lives, Bologna 2015 Frameline 39 LGBTQ San Francisco 2015 Oslo/Fusion International Filmfestival 2015 DokumentArt Filmfestival Neubrandenburg 2015 Chicago LGBTQ+ International Filmfestival 2015 MIX Copehnhagen 2015 Kju_Point Filmfestival Halle 2015 Side by Side International LGBT Filmfestival St. Petersburg 2016 Barcelona International Human Rights film festival 2016 TLV Fest – TelAviv LGBT Filmfestival 2016 Bergen Pride 2016
Special Screenings
#Respect Diversity by Amnesty International, Wien, Mai 2015 Sixpack 4×2, Dokumentarfilmtage IV, Wien, Oktober 2015
A unique Polish couple in their 80s. After living for 66 years in their flat they have to move out. While Maria is an extraordinary spirit full of un-dominable optimism and vitality – Tadeusz is a silent scientist and a fatalist. Now they have to fight their existential disaster that unveils the touching stories of their life and casts a shadow over their present. It’s a film about justice and equality – the crisis of morality in past and present modern society, as well as about how to get old – staying young.
AT/PL, 2012, 76/56 min
Credits
Concept & Director & doP & editor Filip Antoni Malinowski Additional Editing Julia Pontiller, Stefan Hahn Script Consultant Rolf Orthel Associate Producer Carlo Pisani Co-productionMalina Film (PL)
Awards / Festivals
Special Jury Prize Festiwal Mediow Lodz 2012 Honorable Mention Off Cinema Poznan 2012 Winner Best Documentary Prize EKRAN Toronto FF 2013 Appreciation Award of Fine Art Academy of Fine Arts Vienna 2012 Winner Best Film DYI Filmfest Warsaw 2013
Krakow International Film Festival – World Premiere Unabhängiges Filmfest Osnabrück (competition) This Human World Human Rights Film Festival Vienna (competition) Planete DOC Review Warsaw & Wrocław goEast Wiesbaden FF (competition) OFF Plus Camera Kraków, Polish Film Festival of America Chicago OFF Cinema Festival Poznań (competition, awarded) FilmPolska München, Seattle Polish Film Festival Człowiek w Zagrożeniu Łódź (competition, awarded) Cinema Perpetuum Mobile FF Minsk, Kamera Akcja Łódź TNR Tarnowska Nagroda Filmowa (competition) Transatlantyk Poznań (competition) FilmPolska Berlin Diagonale Graz (competition) Guth Gafa Ireland Human Doc Warsaw (competition) Filmfest Rejected Innsbruck (competition) DIY Filmfest (winner, best film) Lubskie Lato Filmowe Łagów (competition) Forum of European Cinema Cinergia Łódź (competition) Filmowa Góra Zielona Góra, Vancouver Polish Film Festival EKRAN Toronto Polish FF (competition, winner best doc film) Solanin Film Festival, Polnische Filmwoche Erlangen PLAY Poland Film Festival UK Polish FF Los Angeles Delai International Documentary Film Festival Moscow Flahertiana International Documentary Film Festival Perm, Russia
funding
Austrian Ministry of Culture and Arts (Innovative Film)
“I am H I Jew positive!” Jurek, a Polish student, has just discovered that he is Jewish and describes his feelings about his newly discovered identity. Almost every day, Poles raised as Catholics discover that their parents have hidden their true identity and that they are originally of Jewish origin and thus belong to the second and third generation of Holocaust survivors. The film begins 14 years ago and accompanies three people from the moment they discover their new identity and follows their lives in a country where the Jewish faith still has to contend with prejudice.
AT/ISR, 2013, 80/52 MIN
Credits
Director & concept Ronit Kertsner Producers Filip Antoni Malinowski, Jürgen Karasek, Ronit Kertsner
Awards / Festivals
World Premiere Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 European PremiereKrakow International Film Festival 2014
Temple Beth El 2019, USA The Spiro Ark 2016, USA Highland Park Temple 2015, USA The Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw 2014, Poland United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston 2014, USA Zagreb Jewish Film Festival 2014, Croatia Australia Jewish Film Festival 2014, Australia
Love Trips is a documentary film about couples living in long-distance relationships across modern Europe—a testament to human resilience—despite differences and great distances. The film presents itself as a multifaceted portrayal of individual experiences that ultimately find common ground in their similarities. The story of love: the joy of finding each other, the discovery of love, understanding, routine, crisis, and finally rebirth on a more mature level.
AT/CH, 2011, 65/52 MIN
Credits
Director Carlo Pisani Co-Production with Rebel Mango Producers Filip Antoni Malinowski, Jürgen Karasek, Carlo Pisani
Awards / Festivals
Nomination Cross-Media Pitches: Power to the Pixel, London 2011 Lucerne Film Festival Film Festival Kitzbühel Globians Filmfest Berlin
