Virgil Widrich

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Virgil Widrich (* 16 May 1967 in Salzburg) is an Austrian director, scriptwriter, film-maker and multimedia artist.

Widrich works on a large number of films and multimedia projects, sometimes as part of a creative team. He is known especially for his numerous short films.

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 Awards (selection)
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Salzburg, Virgil Widrich spends his childhood in a house that is over 500 years old and stands on the Mönchsberg. While there he gets to know artists such as Peter Handke, who was his neighbour, and Wim Wenders, a frequent visitor. He gains his first experience of film at a very young age and is given his first camera, a Super-8, at the age of 13. That same year (1980) he makes three films, "My Homelife", "Gebratenes Fleisch" and 3 mal Ulf. He follows that with an animated cartoon titled Auch Farbe kann träumen. At the age of 15 he makes Monster in Salzburg, on which he works with actors for the first time. He creates the rampaging monster using stop-motion photography. In 1983 he begins work on Vom Geist der Zeit (Spirit of Time). Even bad marks at school are not enough to prevent him finishing his first feature-length movie, which takes him 14 months. During this time he also takes on a job as a props manager at the Salzburg Festival to finance his films. In 1984 he also begins to take an interest in computers and programmes a number of simple games.

After passing his school-leaving exams at the Akademisches Gymnasium in Salzburg he enters the Vienna Film Academy, only to leave again after a matter of weeks to work on the script for a science fiction film which, in the end, he never makes. In 1987 he founds the film distributing company Classic Films with two partners with the aim of distributing mainly artistic films. Later on he becomes assistant to John Bailey, a camera man and director, and in 1990 he goes to Hollywood to work with him on the science fiction comedy The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe. After selling Classic Films in 1991 Widrich again turns his attention to the computer and the possibilities it offers for creating art. His next major project, which sees him working as production manager, is a new festival for Austrian film which is held for the first time in 1993 under the name Diagonale. In the second year he also compiles a film database. More databases relating to film follow, and he is also involved in the creation of an interactive CD-ROM.

From 1997 Widrich starts concentrating more on making films of his own again, producing the short film tx-transform, which is a great success at the Ars Electronica festival. He also keeps returning to his script for Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon), which he films in 1999. The film is premiered in 2000 in Rotterdam. Copy Shop is his next project, and one of his most successful to date. Following its premiere in 2001 the film wins numerous awards, is nominated for the Oscar and is shown on a great many television channels and at many film festivals. His next short, Fast Film, is likewise very successful. A large number of multimedia projects for companies follow (in 2001 he founds his own firm, checkpointmedia AG, and is its CEO) as do films productions. In 2004 Widrich becomes chairman of the Verband der Filmregisseure Österreichs (Austrian Film Directors’ Association) and a member of the jury for Ars Electronica.

Widrich created computer animated installations for the refurbished Mozarthaus Vienna which re-opened in 2006.

[edit] Filmography

My Homelife (A 1980) 6 mins. (Documentary about an old house)
Gebratenes Fleisch (A 1980) 11 mins. (Crime thriller about the murder of a woman in a restaurant)
3 mal Ulf (A 1980) 12 mins. (Documentary about Arnulf Komposch)
Auch Farbe kann träumen (A 1981) 12 mins. (Animated cartoon in which a worm and a little man flee from the destruction of the environment)
Monster in Salzburg (A 1982) 12 mins. (Animated film in which a monster goes on the rampage in Salzburg)
Vom Geist der Zeit (A 1983-1985) 112 mins. (An assortment of many different genres)
tx-transform (A 1998) 5 mins. (Experimental animated film using intriguing techniques)
Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon) (Europe 2000) 88 mins. (Comedy about being a foreigner in Vienna)
Copy Shop (A 2001) 12 mins. (A man copies himself until he fills the entire world)
LinksRechts (A, F 2001) 4 mins. (Interviews on the subject of "Left and right in film and politics")
Fast Film (A, LUX 2003) 14 mins. (animated film with printed scraps of other films telling the story of a chase)

[edit] Awards (selection)

for Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon) (Europe 2000):

Scriptwriting prize of the City of Salzburg for the best script (1997)
Jean Carment Award for Lars Rudolph - Angers European First Film Festival (2000)
Laser Vidéo Titres Award - Angers European First Film Festival (2000)

for Copy Shop (A 2001):

Oscar nomination in 2002 in the category "live action short" by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Prix de la meilleure création sonore / Best Music and Sound Design – Festival du Court-Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand (26 January 2001 - 3 February 2001)
Best Experimental Short - Toronto - International Short Film Festival (6 June 2001 - 10 June 2001)
Kodak Award - Jury's choice for short film - Puchon 2001 - Int. Fantastic Film Festival (12 July 2001 - 20 July 2001)
Jury Prize - IMAGO 2001 - Covilha, Portugal (25 September 2001 - 30 September 2001)
Silberne Taube - Leipzig 2001 – 44th International Film Festival (16 October 2001 - 21 October 2001)
Best Short film - Lleida 2001 - inCurt (7 November 2001 - 11 November 2001)
Best Experimental - Shorts International Film Festival New York 2001 (12 November 2001 - 15 November 2001)
1st Comunidad de Madrid Award - Best Film - Madrid - Semana de Cine Experimental (16 November 2001 - 23 November 2001)
Best Short film - Barcelona L'alternativa 01 (16 November 2001 - 24 November 2001)
Jury Prize - Leuven Kort 2001 - International Short Film Festival (23 November 2001 - 2 December 2001)
Best Of Festival - Boston Underground Film Festival (20 February 2002 - 24 February 2002)
Prix des télévisions européennes - Brussels 02 - Festival of Fantasy, Thriller and Science Fiction (15 March 2002 - 30 March 2002)
Special Prize - Hiroshima 2002 - International Animation Festival (22 August 2002 - 26 August 2002)
Best Experimental Film - Thessaloniki 02 - Panorama of Ind. Film and Video Makers (14 October 2002 - 21 October 2002)
Jury's special prize - Tehran International Animation Festival (23 February 2003 - 27 February 2003)

for Fast Film (A, LUX 2003):

Official selection Festival de Cannes (2003) (nomination)
Best Animated Short (C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures Award) - Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto (2003)
Grand Prix for Animation (Grande Prémio Animação) - Festival Internacional de Curtas Metragens de Vila do Conde, Portugal (2003)
Best Experimental Short Film – 52nd Int. Film Festival, Melbourne (2003)
Audience Award - Bearded Child Film Festival, Grand Rapids, MN / Boulder, CO USA (2003)
Most Imaginative Film - Odense Film Festival, Odense (2003)
High Risk Award - Fantoche – 4th International Festival for Animated Film, Zürich (2003)
Best Experimental Film - Panorama of Independent Film & Video Makers, Thessaloniki (2003)
Most innovative short – Leipzig International Festival for Documentaries and Animated Film (2003)
Grand Prix - Uppsala Short Film Festival (2003)
Premio de la Comunidad de Madrid a la Mejor Película - Semana de Cine Experimental de Madrid (2003)
Onda Curta, 2nd prize and jury's special mention - Cinanima Portugal (2003)
Innova Award - Animadrid, Spanien (2003)
Film Critics Award - Animafest Zagreb (2004)
ASIFA Korea Prize for best Experimental SICAF (2004)
Cartoon d'Or - best animated cartoon Forum Galicia (2004)