Original Title: FUCHS IM BAU
Short Synopsis
When Fuchs starts his new job as a teacher in a prison school, replacing the old and unconventional teacher Berger against her will, he is forced to confront his biggest fear, triggered by the mysterious, withdrawn inmate Samira.
Synopsis
The ambitious middle school teacher HANNES FUCHS (39) is assigned to a prison school alongside the older prison schoolteacher ELISABETH BERGER (60) whose unconventional methods keep her inmate students busy and on their toes. For WEBER (54) the department commander of the juvenile detention wing, Berger is a security risk.
Fuchs is eager to prove himself a suitable prison teacher, but soon realizes that Berger won’t let anyone get too close. While Weber tries to pit both teachers against each other, Berger slowly makes Fuchs her accomplice. When Fuchs instructs the inmates alone for the first time, it comes to an inevitable confrontation between him and the class…
Technical Information
2020; Drama; Austria; 103 minutes; DCP, ProResHQ; Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1; Mix: 5.1; Original Language: German; Subtitles: English
DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY
Arman T. Riahi
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mario Minichmayr
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Martin Reiter
SOUND
Atanas Tcholakov
EDITING
Karina Ressler
SCORE
Karwan Marouf
COSTUME DESIGN
Monika Buttinger
MAKE-UP
Birgit Beranek
CASTING
Nicole Schmied
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Christine Schwarzinger
PRODUCER
Arash T. Riahi & Karin C. Berger
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Golden Girls
Hannes Fuchs
Aleksandar Petrovic
Elisabeth Berger
Maria Hofstätter
Samira Spahic
Luna Jordan
Weber
Andreas Lust
Tara Ketabi
Sibel Kekilli
Rudolf Vanicek
Karl Fischer
Leyla
Anica Dobra
Arman T. Riahi
Director, scriptwriter, dramatic advisor
Arman T. Riahi was born in Iran and grew up in Vienna, Austria, where he directed his first short films as a teenager. He studied media technologies and worked as a screen- and graphic designer in London & Vienna. His first cinema doc Dark Head (2011) opened the documentary competition of the 17th Sarajevo FF, won the Audience Award at the Diagonale Festival of Austrian Film and the Special Jury Mention Award at the Docudays Beirut Int’l Documentary FF. His second cinema doc Everyday Rebellion (2014), co-directed with his brother Arash, was screened at over 60 international film festivals. Riahi’s first feature film, the comedy The Migrumpies, has won Audience Awards in Nashville and Saarbrücken, the ROMY for Best Script and was one of the most successful Austrian cinema movies of 2017 with over 90.000 admissions. In 2019, it was successfully adapted by Riahi, Petrović and Rahoma for theaters. Since 2013, Riahi is a lecturer at the masterclass Film/TV of the University of Applied Sciences for Media Technology in St. Pölten.
Selected Works
2020
Fox In A Hole (Drama, Written & Directed by Arman T. Riahi, 103 Min.) Award of the Youth Jury, Best Director and Best Script (Fritz-Raff-Drehbuchpreis) at 42nd Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis
2019
The Migrumpies (stage play for Viennese Theater in der Josefstadt)
2017
The Migrumpies (Comedy, 90min, Written & Directed by Arman T. Riahi, co-written by Aleksandar Petrović and Faris Rahoma)
2016
Kinders (Cinema Documentary, 90min, co-written and -directed with Arash T. Riahi), Special Jury Prize Sarajevo Film Festival 2017, Diagonale ’16 Audience Award
2014
Everyday Rebellion (Cinema Documentary, 52/118min, co-written and directed with Arash T. Riahi), CPH:DOX 2013 Politiken Audience Award, Cinema for Peace Award, IDFA Panorama, Biennale 2013 BEN Best Transmedia Project, ARTE Pixel Pitch Prize 2012 Best Cross-Media Project & over 60 international film festivals)
2011
Dark Head (Cinema Documentary, 90min) Diagonale 2011 Audience Award; Special Jury Mention Award Docudays Beirut Int’l Documentary Film Festival; Opening Film documentary competition Sarajevo FF)
November 2021
AUGENBLICK – 17e Festival du cinéma germanophone
Youth Jury Award
July 2021
Pula Film Festival
June 2021
Opening film of Diagonale 21
28th Art Film Fest Košice
January 2021
Max Ophüls Preis Official Competition Awards: Preis der Jugendjury, best script, best director
October 2020
Warsaw IFF Official Competition
coming soon…