Team
Team of Film Festival Kitzbühel
Nina Hipfl-Reisch
Nina Hipfl-Reisch, born in 1978 in Kitzbuehel, management assistant for tourism and diploma hotelier (graduation at the Tourism School Wilder Kaiser in St. Johann in Tirol and at the Entrepreneur Academy of ÖHV) and co-organizer of the Kitzbuehel Golf Festival. Before she started working in the family business (Sporthotel Reisch) in 2008, Nina gained professional experience in Italy, the USA, Australia and Austria. She speaks English, French and Italian. Together with her brother Mike Mayr-Reisch, she is responsible for the reception area, marketing and sales. Since 2013 she is working at Film Festival Kitzbuehel in the guest service department. Since February 2015 she is co-partner of Film Festival Kitzbuehel GmbH and since March 2015 she is Vice President of the FFKB Institute (Script Lab).
Nina Hipfl-Reisch
Mike Mayr-Reisch
Mike Mayr-Reisch, Managing Director of Sporthotel Reisch and Deputy Manager of Film Festival Kitzbuehel GmbH. Born in Kitzbühel, he completed his education at the Steigenberger Hotel School in Bad Reichenhall. Further trainings, such as the ÖHV and the Academy for departmental managers followed. Since 2000 he has been working in the family business (Sporthotel Reisch) and became its managing director in 2008 (in 2015 the transfer of the enterprise followed). He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Kitzbuehel Tourism Association and a partner in Kitzpromotion (organizing of the “Alpenrallye”); Co-organizer of Kitzbuehel Golf Festival and co-founder of the wine festival in Kitzbuehel. He gained his experience in the hotel and catering industry in England and Austria and has a talent for organization.
Mike Mayr-Reisch
Josef Obermoser
Josef Obermoser was born in 1985 in Kitzbuehel. After graduating from the Advertising Academy in Vienna, he worked for various advertising agencies in Austria and in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a copywriter, graphic artist and in customer services. He now lives and works in Kitzbuehel. Josef Obermoser has been with Film Festival Kitzbuehel since its foundation in 2012, where he is mainly responsible for marketing and graphic design. Since February 2015 he is a co-partner of the Film Festival Kitzbuehel GmbH.
Josef Obermoser
Kathryn Perrotti
Born in London, she grew up in England, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Austria and studied Communications Theory and Art History in Vienna, Salzburg and Milan. Since 2006, after completing her master studies, she has worked for an Austrian corporation and traditional family business, where she helped set up a film production company (for feature films) from 2008 to 2011. She wrote the concepts for the short films “Passage” (Director: Shekhar Kapur) and “Panta Rhei” (Director: Clemens Purner) and also produced the films. In addition, she was responsible for the story development of various projects. Kathryn Perrotti has been part of the organizational team since the foundation of Film Festival Kitzbuehel (FFKB) in 2012 and is responsible for the communications and press relations department. Since 2014, Perrotti is also a member of the board of the FFKB Institute (Script Lab), starting as cashier and since 2015 as a secretary.
Kathryn Perrotti
Michael Reisch
Born in Tyrol, he studied film directing in the USA from 2007 to 2012. During his studies he completed an 18-month-long directing and scriptwriting training with Sharon von Wietersheim in Munich, where he also gained his first experience as assistant director. For his graduation project, the short film “Mind Thinks Heart Knows”, he founded his own production company LSL-Film in 2011. In 2012, together with four friends, he founded Film Festival Kitzbuehel (FFKB), which focuses on “young film” and took place for the first time at the end of August 2013. Vice President of the FFKB Institute.
Michael Reisch
Programming Team
Michael Reisch
Born in Tyrol, he studied film directing in the USA from 2007 to 2012. During his studies he completed an 18-month-long directing and scriptwriting training with Sharon von Wietersheim in Munich, where he also gained his first experience as assistant director. For his graduation project, the short film “Mind Thinks Heart Knows”, he founded his own production company LSL-Film in 2011. In 2012, together with four friends, he founded Film Festival Kitzbuehel (FFKB), which focuses on “young film” and took place for the first time at the end of August 2013. Vice President of the FFKB Institute.
Michael Reisch
Markus Mörth
Born in Graz. Studied film directing at the University of Television and Film Munich. The graduation film “Allerseelen” received the „First-Steps-Award“. Served his civilian service for Caritas as refugee caretaker. He then worked as a freelance director and scriptwriter, especially for the cinema (feature film), TV (documentary film). He worked as lecturer at the University of Graz. Since 2013 he is founder and managing director of “DrehbuchWerkstatt München – Steiermark”, a cooperation with the renowned DrehbuchWerkstatt München. Currently he lives with his family in Munich and Graz.
Prizes and awards (selection):
First Steps Award („Allerseelen“, Fic.)
Carl Mayer Script Prize, Audience Award Bolzano Film Festival Bozen 2019 (“Geschwister”, Fic.)
Prälat Leopold Ungar Journalism Prize 2010 („Leben in der Zwischenwelt“, Doc.)
Markus Mörth
Djamila Grandits
Djamila Grandits is a curator, cultural worker and lives in Vienna. Since 2010 she participated in various cultural projects in production, conception and set design. As part of CineCollective – film cultures and curatorial practice, she has been responsible for the management, implementation and conception of kaleidoscope – film and open air cinema at Karlsplatz since 2019. Since 2017 she is a co-curator at frameout – digital summer screenings. 2020 part of the program team of Filmfestival Kitzbühel in the categories feature and short film. From 2016-2018 she was the artistic director of this human world – International Human Rights Film Festival. 2018 Djamila held a scholarship for cultural management in the Wiener Brunnenpassage. Further she worked as a Freelance author of film-related and sociopolitical texts. She presented numerous film discussions, panel discussions and events. Her interest lies in the entanglement as well as the opening up of theoretical approaches, filmic, political, artistic and activist forms.
Djamila Grandits
Gregor Schmidinger
Gregor Schmidinger is a screenwriter and director living in Vienna. He studied screenwriting at the University of California in Los Angeles and his film work includes short films, music videos, commercials and a movie. His two short films THE BOY NEXT DOOR (2008) and HOMOPHOBIA (2012) combined have more than 15 million views on YouTube. His first feature film NEVRLAND (2019) was awarded the Youth Jury Prize at the 40th Max-Ophüls Prize Film Festival and the Thomas Pluch Special Prize for Best Screenplay. Gregor Schmidinger is a member of the jury for the Austrian Film Evaluation Commission and one of the founding members of the Porn Film Festival Vienna.
Gregor Schmidinger
Mona Walch
Mona Walch grew up south of Munich and graduated from high school in Berlin. She studied “Culture and Management” in Salamanca and Görlitz. During her studies, she passionately worked at the interfaces of the arts, including in various areas of film and TV production. After a work stay in New York, she returned to her home and took over the management of the program coordination at the Munich Film Festival. Since 2012 she has been working as a freelance presenter for various film festivals, among others for the DOK.fest Munich, the Five Lakes Film Festival, FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH, etc. and supports the film selection. In addition, she organizes events in the fields of music, theater and fine art and is part of the project management team for the One Young World Summit 2020 Munich. This year she is curating the Documentary Section for the Filmfestival Kitzbühel for the first time.
Mona Walch
Niki Waltl
Niki Waltl is a Tyrolean cameraman and filmmaker who started filming in his early teens. At that time it was snowboard videos that inspired him and he also worked in the field of sports for several years. In 2009, he made his way to Barcelona, where he completed a three-year cinematography training at CECC Film School. Since then, Niki has returned to Tyrol and is actively involved in various film projects from there.
Niki Waltl
Script Lab & Advisory Board
Sebastian Andrae
Since February 2016, the renowned screenwriter and filmmaker Sebastian Andrae is the new artistic director of the FFKB Script Lab („Drehbuchklausur“).
Born in 1968 in Hamburg, he studied German, history and law at the University of Goettingen from 1988 – 1992 and then moved to the HFF Munich in 1992 to study directing. However, he specialized in scriptwriting early on and graduated with a diploma for a feature film script. Since 2007, Andrae is a board member of the Association of German Screenwriters (VDD) and, since 2015, he is its managing director. He was a member of several professional juries and annually hosts the German Film Award for Best Screenplay (Lola) at the Berlinale reception for screenwriters. Since 2009, he is a member of the awarding commission, the screenplay commission and of the board of directors of the Filmfoerderungsanstalt (FFA) and, since 2014, a representative of the creatives within the committee.
Sebastian Andrae
Advisory Board
Eberhard Junkersdorf
In 1973, Eberhard Junkersdorf and successful director Volker Schlöndorff founded the film production company Bioskop Film, which was involved in many award-winning works of the New German Cinema. With films like “Die Fälschung” and “Homo Faber” by Volker Schlöndorff (with Sam Shepard and Julie Delpy), “Rosa Luxemburg” by Margarethe von Trotta (with Daniel Olbrychski) and “Messer im Kopf” by Reinhard Hauff he always displayed a strong sense of substance and audience. Overall, he has participated in more than 80 films that received numerous nominations and awards.
In 1995 he founded the company Munich Animation, which produces animated films. For the film “The Fearless Four” Junkersdorf took on the role of director for the first time. The film won the Producers’ Award at the Bavarian Film Prize. He also directed the German-Belgian coproduction “Till Eulenspiegel” in 2003. The film received an Oscar nomination in the animation category in the same year. Eberhard Junkersdorf is also very involved in film politics. As President of the German Federal Film Board (FFA), Junkersdorf has been shaping Germany as a film production country in its cultural and economic development since 1999. In addition to his film-economic knowledge, he has a strong passion and love for culture, history and its individuals. Eberhard Junkersdorf is a holder of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st class (2001), as well as the Bavarian Order of Merit (2004).
Eberhard Junkersdorf
Karol Martesko-Fenster
Karol Martesko-Fenster, originating from Austria, has become a respected American entrepreneur who has been able to assert himself over the last decades within American independent film. Through his expertise in feature film, broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet, he is partially responsible for advances in the media industry.
Karol is a Managing Partner of Cinelan and Thought Engine / Media Group and works closely with Abramorama, Gull Gotham and Iridium One Entertainment.
In 2011, he joined S2BN Entertainment, taking care of media interest, development, acquisition, production, licensing and distribution. In 2008, Karol Martesko-Fenster worked at Babel Networks as Senior Vice President and General Manager, including the online and mobile distribution platform babelgum.com. Prior to that, he was a strategic advisor to various film and media companies, including Arts Alliance, T5M / rightster, com, SBI Management and Tribeca Enterprise.
Karol acted as producer for both Torno Subito – Maurizio Cattelan by Maura Axelrod and Homme Less by Thomas Wirthensohn. He was also an Executive Producer on Phil Cox’s The Love Hotel (’14), The Bengali Detective (2013 Grierson Documentary Award, 2011 Sundance and Berlin Film Festival), Danfung Dennis’s Hell And Back Again (2013 EMMY Nomination for Best Documentary, 2013 Grierson Documentary Award, 2012 Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary, 2011 Sundance Winner of World Documentary Grand Jury Award and Best Cinematography), Noel Dernesch & Moritz Springer’s Journey To Jah (2013 Zurich Film Festival Audience Award), Havana Marking’s Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers (’13), Amy Benson’s The Girl Who Knew To Much, and Daniel McCabe’s This Is Congo.
Karol also oversaw all production stages and the distribution on various platforms of the Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy (2013 Grammy Winner, 2012 SXSW Audience Award) and works with Leslie Iwerks on her film Citizen Hearst (’13), Sing Your Song with Harry Belafonte and Michael Cohl (2012 NAACP Image Award Winner, 2011 Sundance US Documentary Competition). Karol was an executive producer on James Smith’s Floored (’10), Jamie King and Peter Mann’s Dark Fiber (’10), co-executive producer on Dean Budnick & Peter Shapiro’s Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub (’06), Executive Producer on Rob Nilsson’s Frank Dead Souls (’06), producer of Gordon Eriksen & Heather Johnston’s Scenes From The New World (’94), Myth Or Reality – The Von Trapp Family (’92) and he collaborated with Richard Linklater on his film Before Sunrise (’95), which opened the Sundance Film Festival and won the Silver Bear in Berlin.
Previously, Karol was General Manager of Film at Palm Pictures and Chairman of RES Media Group, which also belongs to Chris Blackwell’s Palm company. During these five years he oversaw the strategic re-organization of the film area and was in charge of the Palm film projects Scratch and Sex and Lucia. Karol oversaw all activities and brand positioning for the RES department, including being responsible for the RESFEST digital film festival, a festival of digital art and entertainment that has now established itself in over 6 continents, 19 countries and 40 cities.
Prior to joining Palm, Karol spent three years as chairman and publisher of Rising Tide Studio, an integrated media and convergence company, contributing to the distribution and development of the Silicon Alley Reporter and the Digital Coast Reporter magazine, as well as overseeing numerous media, finance and technology conferences.
In the early 1990s he co-produced Great Performances Music at PBS and produced over 20 music TV formats and five live broadcasts, including: Gala of Stars, Mozart in Salzburg by James Levine, Celebrating Gershwin: S’Wonderful & The Jazz Age, Don Giovanni with Herbert von Karajan, Madama Butterfly with Hal Prince, Pavarotti Returns to Naples and from Vienna: The New Year’s Concert with Walter Cronkite.
Karol was Sales Director during the Independent Film Market’s breakthrough in 1989 and Managing Director of the Independent Feature Project in 1990, where he restructured the film services organization and co-initiated the Gotham Awards.
Throughout his career, Karol has always been at the forefront of “New Developments.” For example, he was able to launch “Big Easy Express“ as the first global digital release of a feature film on iTunes before its traditional exploitation. Karol also pulle off the groundbreaking episodic mobile distribution of a feature film (Sally Potter’s RAGE), as well as the distribution of 9 prequels via the Internet during the production of the award-winning documentary The Bengali Detectives. In addition, Karol was co-founder and initiator of conditionone.com, cinelan.com, indieWIRE.com, Filmmaker Magazine, RES Magazine, and the Virtual Film Festival.
Karol has collaborated on the following Webby Award nominated and award winning companies, FOCUS FORWARD – Short Films, Big Ideas ’12, Sally Potter’s RAGE ’10, epitonic.com ’03, indieWIRE.com ’01 & ’03 and sputnik7.com ’01. Karol has appeared in numerous international publications and is a regular speaker at film and media events around the globe with a focus on transformative entrepreneurship and immersive video-centric content applications. Current and former platforms include BellaGaia, The Collaborative Film, Rising Tide Studios, WorkBookProject and Hamptons International, and the LA Independent Film Festival.
Born in Vienna, Karol lived in over 20 international cities and speaks German and English fluently. He received a B.A. from SUNY Purchase and an M.F.A. Degree from Columbia University with a focus on media law, theater management and film production. When he is not working, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Julia and his three children.
Karol Martesko-Fenster
Michael von Wolkenstein
Michael von Wolkenstein was born in 1940 in Vienna, the son of Anton von Wolkenstein, MD and Martha-Sophie von Wolkenstein, MD. Since 1968 he is married to Astrid, they have two sons.
1959-1963 University of Vienna, Law
1963-1965 Assistant at Schönbrunnfilm, Vienna
1965 Founding of his own company: MW Agency for Film &TV
1966 Managing Partner at SASCHA-UFA Commercial Film Ltd.
1971 Founding of SATEL TV & Film Production Ltd. (Polygram, CABV, Wolkenstein)
1976 Expansion to Germany and founding of companies in Munich, Berlin and Cologne
1980 Founding of Satel-Doc lnt. London
1999 Polygram sells his shares to BAVARIA FILM München
1971 – 2006 President, CEO and Associate of the SATEL group
2006/7 Sale of the Sattel shares to BAVARIA FILM Munich
Michael von Wolkenstein has produced numerous movies for cinema and TV, series and documentaries, such as “38”, “Das weite Land”, “Schüler Gerber“, “Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald“, “Krambambuli“, “Alle für die Mafia“, “Andreas Hofer”, “Brennendes Geheimnis”, “Die Heilerin”, “Marie Bonaparte“, “Opernball”, “Radetzkymarsch”, “Vino Santo”, “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg”, “Der Mixer”, “Der Sonne entgegen”, “Die Peifkesaga”, “Kottan ermittelt”, “Schoßhotel Orth“, “Soko Donau”, “Dinosaurier“, “Johann Strauß“, “John Houston“, “Krönungsmesse”, “Madagaskar”, “Schauplätze der Weltliteratur“, and many more.
Other Functions
1990 – 2005 Chairman of the Professional Association / President of the Austrian Film & Audiovisual Industry. Since 2005 Honorary President.
1990 – now Expert Lay Judge at the Commercial Court Vienna
1990 – now court-certified expert for film and television
Since 1991 board member and treasurer of the FIAPF (Federation International des Associations de Producteurs de Films)
2006-2010 President of the Association of German Film Producers
Since 2006 member of the committee of the SPIO (leading organization of the German film industry)
2006-2012 Deputy Advisory Board Chairman of VGF Germany (Exploitation Company for Producers’ Rights)
2010- 2012 Board member of the Alliance of German Producers Film & Television
Since 2013 President of the Foundation of the Friends of Film Festival Kitzbuehel
Co-founder and Honorary President of the Austrian Film Commission
Co-founder and board member of the VAM (Association for Audiovisual Media Ltd.)
Various awards, among others Bearer of the Golden Medal of Honor of the Republic of Austria.
Michael von Wolkenstein
Dr. Gottfried Langenstein
Born March 15, 1954 in Munich
Studied philosophy, psychology and politics
Graduate scholarship of the Bavarian state and doctorate
1979 – 1982 Theater Festival Munich, responsible for French productions, such as Mephisto and Richard III by Ariane Mnouchkine
1986 – 1987 Coordinator of the science exhibition on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Berlin
1989 – 1995 Head of General Foreign Relations ZDF
1995 – 1998 Online representative of ZDF
1995 – 2000 Head of Department International Affairs ZDF
1996 – 2000 Member of the Supervisory Board of TransTel Ltd.
1994 – 2000 Head of the Festival Commission of ZDF
1998 – 2000 Vice-President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) TV Committee
2000 – 2017 Director European Satellite Programs of ZDF
2000 – 2017 Chairman of the Board 3sat
2002 – 2017 Board of Trustees “Museumsinsel” and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK)
2002 – 2016 Management ARTE as Vice President and President
Current Positions:
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Allianz Cultural Foundation
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Technical University of Munich
Member of the Wüstenrot Foundation
Member of the Board of Trustees Mecklenburger Festspiele
Member of the Max Planck Society
Member of the Advisory Board Film Festival Kitzbühel
Awards
Knight of the Legion of Honor
Bavarian Order of Merit
Medal for outstanding contributions to Bavaria in a united Europe
Honorary Pin of the Max Planck Society
Dr. Gottfried Langenstein
Univ. Prof. Danny Krausz
Founded DOR FILM in 1988 together with Milan Dor. Since then other subsidiaries were created, such as DOR FILM WEST, DOR FILM KÖLN and the ZAP – Center for Audiovisual Postproduction in Vienna.
The company produces films for cinema and TV as well as documentaries and series.
Recent successes include the co-productions “3 Days in Quiberon” by Emily Atef (Berlinale Competition in 2018) and “The Flowers of Yesterday” by Chris Kraus (including Main Award and Audience Award at Tokyo Film Festival, 8 Lola Nominations in 2017);
Since 2011 Krausz is holding the chair in production at the Institute for Film and Television at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is Chairman of the Association of Film and Music Industry in the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Exploitation Association for Audiovisual Media, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Austrian Film Institute and co-founder of the Academy of Austrian Film. He is also President of the European Producers Training Program EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) and a member of the German and European Film Academy.
Univ. Prof. Danny Krausz
Nils Dünker
Dünker started his career with an education as a photographer and moved to Los Angeles in 1990. Initially working as a still photographer and camera assistant, he gained over two years of experience as a production manager for independent productions. Back in Munich he started studying at the University of Television and Film (specializing in Production and Media Management).
Alongside his studies, he worked as a freelance production manager for music videos and commercials. After graduating from the HFF in October 96, he founded the “Young Guns” division of Roman Kuhn and Partners Advertising Film Productions Ltd.
In July ’97 he moved to Helkon Media plc, working as a producer and production manager. There, he was the production manager for productions like “The Eyesore” or “Nothing but the Truth”. He realized the feature films “Kismet” and “The Dead Diver in the Forest” as a freelance producer for Helkon Media plc. In September 2000 he moved to Berlin, where he built up and directed the script development office Berlin for TV60 Film Productions until March 2003.
In April 2003, Nils Dünker started up his own business as a freelance producer and founded Lailaps Pictures GbR in July 2006. In addition, he entered into a first-look agreement with Monaco Film Ltd in Hamburg, for which he produced the two Marcus H. Rosenmüller films “Best Time” and “Best Area”. Dünker is co-developer of the series bible of one of ZDF’s most successful primetime series – “The Criminalist”. He also developed and produced the event film “Westflug – Entführung aus Liebe” on behalf of RTL.
In June of 2010, Lailaps Pictures GbR was converted into a corporation together with a silent partner from Switzerland. With this new corporate structure, Nils Dünker co-produced the new film by Academy Award winner Paul Haggis, “Third Person”, starring Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Olivia Wilde, James Franco and Adrian Brody. The following year, shooting began in New York for Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy “Broadway Therapy,” starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.
In the summer of 2014, Dünker produced the multi-award-winning satirical comedy “Beware of People” together with the makers of “Stromberg” in Berlin and on Mallorca for WDR. The production received the Comedy Award for Best Television Film and was nominated for the Golden Camera.
With Wim Wenders as an executive producer, Lailaps worked for the first time as a producer of documentary films on the award-winning artist portrait “Our Last Tango”.
In 2015, “The Dark Side of the Moon” was filmed and shooting of “An Unheard Woman” began. Hans Steinbichler directed the TV movie for ZDF / arte funded by FFF Bayern. Wild Bunch released the film in German cinemas and received, among others, the One Future Award and the German Television Award 2018.
Together with first-time director Adrian Goiginger Nils Dünker also developed the screenplay for “The Best of all Worlds”. This German-Austrian co-production topped the art house charts for a long time. Almost 90,000 tickets were sold in Austria alone. The film won the Compass Perspective Prize in the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino, followed by 25 other national and international film awards, including five Austrian Film Awards (Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, etc.).
On December 15, 2017, the true events-based film “Ein Kind wird gesucht“” was broadcasted. Directed by Urs Egger and shot on original locations in North Rhine-Westphalia in April 2017, this ZDF / arte-funded production achieved the second-best ratings since the start of the broadcasting business of arte in 1992.
Nils Dünker
Prof. Dr. jur. Klaus Schaefer
Born in 1952 in Frankfurt am Main. Studied law from 1973 to 1977 at the Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. In 1977 First State Exam and in 1980 Second State Exam in Munich. In 1981 Ph.D. at the LMU on a copyright topic. From 1981 to 1987 legal consultant at the Bavarian Ministry of Culture and at the Bavarian State Representation in Bonn, from 1987 to 1989 “Spiegelreferent” for the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art in the Bavarian State Chancellery, from 1989 to 1995 division chief for Media Law and Media Policy at the Bavarian State Chancellery. From 1995 to 2000 Founding Commissioner and then Deputy Managing Director and Authorized Signatory of FilmFernsehFonds Bayern Ltd (FFF Bayern). From January 1, 2001 until January 31, 2018 Managing Director of FFF Bayern. Since 1995 lecturer at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF), in 2007 appointed as an honorary professor at HFF, and since February 2, 2018 lawyer in Munich/Pullach.
Prof. Dr. jur. Klaus Schaefer
Arno Ortmair
Producer, founder and managing partner of Film-Line Productions Ltd Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Eclypse Filmpartner Vienna. Has been successfully producing German and international cinema and television films for many years. He is an expert in international co-productions and film financing. Arno Ortmair founded Film-Line in 1987 in Germany and Austria as a service production company for American and English movies (“James Bond”, “Shining Through”, “I Spy”) and used the experience to develop and produce his own projects later on.
In addition to cinema productions such as “Klimt” (Raoul Ruiz, John Malkovich), “The Poet” (Dougray Scot, Laura Harring), or “Tabu – The Soul is a Stranger on Earth” (Christoph Stark, Lars Eidinger), great and award-winning TV events such as “Silent Night” (Franz Xaver Bogner), “Schwabenkinder” (Jo Baier) or “Margarete Steiff” (Xaver Schwarzenberger) are worth mentioning.
In addition to his work as a producer, Arno Ortmair in his function as Chairman of the Board of the Association of German Film Producers has drastically enlarged and rejuvenated said association within 6 years and made it the authoritative representative of independent producers. He represented the interests of the association in the following honorary offices and committees:
- Chairman of the Association of German Film Producers
- Board member of the FFFA
- Awarding Committee of the FFA
- Kiss Innovation Committee of the FFA
- Working Group German Film Heritage FFA
- Committee leading organization of the film industry (SPIO)
- International Producers Association FIAPF
- German Films
- VGF Board of Trustees
- AGICOA
- CSU Film Commission
- Austrian Producers Association Film-Austria
- European Producers Club
In May 2017 Arno Ortmair handed over the chairmanship of the association to a young board committee and is now focusing on the expansion of his companies in cooperation with international financing and production partners and media companies.
Arno Ortmair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are infinitely grateful and proud of the extraordinary interest, the numerous submissions and the many helping hands that contributed to the realization of this project. We would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters – especially the Austrian Film Institute, the city of Kitzbuehel, VAM, FAMA, the province of Tyrol and Cine Tirol, as well as Kitzbuehel Tourism – without which this festival would have had to remain a dream for even longer. A big thank you also to the prestigious jurors of the past six years, the owners of the venues and all the others, whom we unfortunately cannot all mention by name. We are pleased to have created another highlight in the event calendar of our city.
Special thanks to Mr. Michael von Wolkenstein, Eberhard Junkersdorf and Karol Martesko-Fenster, who act in an advisory capacity with their extraordinary knowledge and many years of experience.
Thus we look forward to successful preparations and a varied and exciting film program in the summer of 2020.