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Paul Poet

Biography

Als Steirer an internationalen Konfliktherden im Nahen Osten und Afrika aufgewachsen, lernte er schon früh das gesellschaftliche Potential zu Gewalt, Macht und Missbrauch kennen. Die besetzten Häuser, Punk-Läden und elektronischen Clubbings von Wien waren in den 1990ern seine Kinderstube, während er Philosophie und Medienwissenschaft studierte und als Autodidakt seine Regie- Karriere begründete. Die Biennale Istanbul wählte ihn 2013 mit seinem Kinodebut Ausländer raus! Schlingensiefs Container“ neben Namen wie Godard, Bunuel und Rouch in einen Kanon des politischen Kinos, worauf er in Folge in Istanbul, Tel Aviv und am MoMA New York mit Gala-Vorstellungen geehrt wird. Seine Hauptthemen sind dabei Rebellion, Selbstermächtigung, Pop Politics und Provokation. Oft gastieren internationale Musiker- und Szenegrössen wie die Einstürzenden Neubauten, Alec Empire, Melvins, Neurosis oder Rose McGowan in und um seine Arbeiten. Aktuell arbeitet er an mehreren Kino-Spielfilmen zwischen Genre, Satire, Provokation und Politik für deutsche und englische Geldgeber (Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion, Freibeuter Film, Filmhaus, Epo Film). Poet wurde von der EU-Kulturfestival-Plattform WE ARE EUROPE als einziger Filmemacher zu einer der 64 most inspiring European artists, thinkers and speakers of 2019“ gewählt. In Folge ernannte ihn auch das österreichische BUNDESKANZLERAMT zu einem Kultur-Botschafter der EU-Förderungs-Plattform CREATIVE EUROPE.

Laufende Tätigkeit als freier Kino-Kurator für FILMARCHIV AUSTRIA, DIAGONALE, VIENNALE (Die von ihm kuratierte Retro Austrian Pulp“ gilt als erfolgreichste FAA-Retro der Viennale überhaupt). Laufende Veröffentlichungen zu Film in Zeitungen, Zeitschriften, Büchern und Mediabook-Booklets in D, A, USA, UK (Suhrkamp, Springer, Ventil, Index Verlag, Koch Media, Bildstörung, Subkultur, Mondo Macabro,…) Teil der Hauptpreis-Jury beim KSVF Istanbul IFF 2015, Haifa IFF 2016, THIS HUMAN WORLD Vienna 2018

Sonja Poet

Vita
Born
1971, Abqaiq
Education
Universität Wien, Mag. phil. der Philosophie und Publizistik
Occupation
Regie, Buch, Produktion, Schauspiel, Kamera
Awards
2002
WorldFest Houston, Best International Documentary (Ausländer raus! Schlingensiefs Container)
2002
Images Festival, Toronto Canada, Best international Film made on Video (Ausländer raus! Schlingenisefs Container)
2011
Shortlist European Film Award, Best European Documentary (Empire Me — Der Staat bin ich!)
2011
Aubagne Int Filmfestival Cinema&Music, Prix du Film Rebelle — Alternativer Best Film Award / PP mit Alexander Hacke (Empire Me — Der Staat bin ich!)
2011
WorldFest Houston, Best International Documentary (Empire Me — Der Staat bin ich!)
2015
Sydney World Filmfestival, Best International Documentary (My Talk with Florence)
2019
64 most inspiring European artists, thinkers and speakers (Kulturplattform WE ARE EUROPE, Lyon, Frankreich)
Filmography
In Produktion In Prod.
Der Soldier Monika, Dokumentarfilm, approx. 90 min, Regie, Buch
2015
My Talk with Florence, Dokumentarfilm, 128 min, Regie, Buch, Produktion, Schauspiel
2011
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!, Dokumentarfilm, 100 min, Regie, Buch
2002
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container, Dokumentarfilm, 90 min, Regie, Buch, Produktion
1996
HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age, Spielfilm, 18 min, Regie, Buch
Paul Poet
Der Soldier Monika (In Produktion)
Der Soldier Monika
Paul Poet
Der Soldier Monika (In Produktion)
Der Soldier Monika
Paul Poet
My Talk with Florence (2015)
My Talk with Florence
Paul Poet
My Talk with Florence (2015)
My Talk with Florence
Paul Poet
My Talk with Florence (2015)
My Talk with Florence
MY TALK WITH FLORENCE (Austria 2015, Paul Poet) OFFICIAL TRAILER
Paul Poet
My Talk with Florence (2015)
My Talk with Florence
Paul Poet
My Talk with Florence (2015)
My Talk with Florence
Paul Poet
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!
Paul Poet
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!
Paul Poet
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!
EMPIRE ME - NEW WORLDS ARE HAPPENING (Austria, Germany, Luxembourg 2011, Paul Poet) International Trailer HD
Paul Poet
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!
Paul Poet
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)
Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening!
Paul Poet
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container
Paul Poet
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container
Paul Poet
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container
AUSLÄNDER RAUS! SCHLINGENSIEFS CONTAINER (Austria 2002, Paul Poet) Official Trailer
Paul Poet
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container
Paul Poet
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)
Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container
Paul Poet
HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age (1996)
HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age
Paul Poet
HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age (1996)
HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age
Films

Der Soldier Monika (In Produktion)

AT

Dokumentarfilm

approx. 90 min

Paul Poet / Freibeuter Film. Kamera: Anna Hawliczek.

Der Soldier Monika (In Produktion)

Synopsis

Don’t dream it, be it: The Act of Killing goes Gender Frenzy. The battlefield is gender identity. Monika Donner is a transsexual elite soldier, a poster figure for gender rights and an author on the extreme right wing of the political spectrum. Quickly she, who used to be he, becomes a solitary warrior caught between the ideological fronts. A psychedelically political psychogram as an intensive cinematic collage.

Info
Regie
Paul Poet
Buch
Paul Poet
Filmmusik
Gewalt / Patrick Wagner
Kamera
Anna Hawliczek, Carolina Steinbrecher, Simone Hart
Produktion
Oliver Neumann, Sabine Moser
Schauspiel
Monika Donner, Philipp Hochmair, Maria Hofstätter, Roland Düringer, Sarah Zaharanski, Mateja Meded
Schnitt
Oliver Neumann
Premiere International
30. November ‑0001
Premiere Österreich
30. November ‑0001
Kinostart
30. November -0001

My Talk with Florence (2015)

AT

Dokumentarfilm

128 min

Copyright Paul Poet, Graphic Design Sonja Poet

My Talk with Florence (2015)

Synopsis

Two Persons. One Tape. One Interview. No Cuts. No tricks. One of the most brutal and disturbing pieces of oral history. Florence Burnier-Bauer was born in Paris in 1949 to an upper middle-class family with Russian roots. Raped by her Granddad at an early age and passed around in secret men’s circles, she was hushed by electro-shocks in the insane asylum. Then she fled to the bohemian hobo lifestyle of the swinging sixties, taking off to a life of crime, bringing up three children on the road. Searched by the French police, she thought to find a safe haven in the free-loving Austrian Friedrichshof-Commune, led by Actionist Artist Otto Mühl. That is where hell really began. In 1989 Florence was able to escape. Her court appearance brought Mühl to jail for pedophilia, rape and orchestrated abuse. Her story is a highly unsettling testimonial about a time, known for its social liberalization. It is a showdown with counterculture icon Otto Mühl, previous documentaries had only hinted at. And a disturbing chronic to a shattered but unbroken life. And a ground-shaking mirror to the shadows behind the years of the post-war European Witschaftswunder, that shows how fascist structures and thinking was able to silently live on in the social underneath, even of the extreme left. A MeToo-Film.

Info
Regie
Paul Poet
Buch
Paul Poet
Filmmusik
Peter Brunner, Alec Empire, The Laughing Hyenas
Kamera
Johannes Holzhausen
Produktion
Paul Poet
Schauspiel
Florence Burnier-Bauer, Paul Poet
Schnitt
Andi Winter
Ton
Georg Tomandl
Premiere International
30. November ‑0001 — Istanbul International Film Festival 
Premiere Österreich
30. November ‑0001 — Diagonale 
Kinostart
22. January 2016
Awards
Hauptpreis für Bester Kino-Dokumentarfilm” beim Sydney World Filmfestival
Other Festivals: Visions du Réel Nyon, Hot Doc Toronto, FID Marseille, Hofer Filmtage, DocLisboa, Haifa IFF, This Human World Vienna, Stranger than Fiction Cologne, Nice France, Ierapetra Greece, ARKIPEL Experimental FF Jakarta, One World Romania, Guangzhou FF, UK Screen One, Baturu Beijing

Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)

AT/DE/LU

Dokumentarfilm

100 min

Paul Poet, Navigator Film, Design Sonja Poet

Empire Me - New Worlds are Happening! (2011)

Synopsis

Handmade utopias — a filmic search for the worldwide phenomenon of the micronation movement. Do-it-yourself states that have distanced themselves from the economic and political mainstreaming of globalization. A road movie covering land, water and the wildest realms of the imagination. Simultaneously creative documentary and pulsating cultural portrait, the film traces a new unplugged” generation — their motives, their anxieties and their dreams. A film that shows how this generation realizes its escapist fantasies in new economic and political forms and how they collide with oppressive everyday realities.

World Distribution: Films Transit, Canada (since 2014:) New Docs, Germany

Info
Regie
Paul Poet
Buch
Paul Poet
Filmmusik
Alexander Hacke, Múm, Dark Dark Dark
Kamera
Enzo Brandner, Gerald Kerkletz, Jerzy Palacz, Paul Poet
Produktion
Johannes Rosenberger, Christian Beetz, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
Schnitt
Karina Ressler
Ton
Atanas Tcholakov, Joe Knauer, Dan McMahon
Schauspiel
Erwin Strauss, Caledonia Curry, Chicken John Rinaldi, Michael Bates, Prince Leonard of Hutt River, Achim Ecker, Formica Coriandolo, Esperide Ananas
Premiere International
25. October 2011 — Hofer Filmtage 
Premiere Österreich
25. March 2011 — Diagonale 
Kinostart
19. January 2012
Awards
European Film Award — Nomination Best Cinema Documentary
Aubagne International Filmfestival Cinema & Music — Prix du Film Rebelle (Alternativer Preis für den Besten Film des Jahres an Paul Poet & Alexander Hacke)
Houston Worldfest — Best International Documentary Film
Other Festivals: Jihlava, Parnu, London, Hot Springs Doc Fest USA, Nantes, Johannesburg, Havanna, Jakarta, Moscow.

Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)

AT

Dokumentarfilm

90 min

Paul Poet, Filmgalerie 451, Design Sonja Poet

Foreigners out! Schlingensiefs Container (2002)

Synopsis

FOREIGNERS OUT! SCHLINGENSIEFS CONTAINER is a thrilling, insightful, funny chronicle and reflection of one of he biggest public pranks and acts of art terrorism ever committed. Austria 2000: Right after the FPÖ under Jörg Haider had become part of the government, the first time an extreme right wing party became state officials after WW2, infamous German shock director Christoph Schlingensief showed a very unique form of protest. Realising public xenophobia and the new hate politics in the most drastic ways possible, he installed a public concentration camp right in the middle of Vienna´s touristic heart, right beside the pittoresque opera where hundreds of tourists and locals pass by daily. And it was no concentration camp you had ever feared to return from the old times, but one that cynically reflected our new multimedia culture. Satirising reality TV shows, Big Brother” especially, a dozen asylum seekers were surveilled by a multitude of cameras, could be fed and watched by passer-by´s and two were thrown out of country through web-voting per day. The way fascism looks in the 21st century: Bright. Sensational. Interactive. Funny…and frightening. Austria freaked out. Thousands of screaming people gathered. Attacks with knifes, beatings, acid occurred. Political intrigues. Headlines all over Europe. 800.000 worldwide joined via internet. An incredibly heated week, capturing the European right-wing drift in real time. Democracy the hard way.

Info
Regie
Paul Poet
Buch
Paul Poet
Filmmusik
Hermann Leopoldi & Betja Milskaja, Alec Empire, Aphex Twin, Einstürzende Neubauten, Heinz Ehrenfreund, Komet, Unit, Les Tambours du Bronx
Kamera
Robert Winkler, Mario Sternisa, Sandra Umathum
Produktion
Paul Poet, Robert Winkler, Oliver Neumann
Schauspiel
Christoph Schlingensief, Matthias Lilienthal, Luc Bondy, Elfriede Jelinek, Rainer Laux, Einstürzende Neubauten, Carl Hegemann, Claudia Kaloff, Helene Partik-Pablé, Burghart Schmidt, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Gregor Gysi, Peter Pilz, Dietrich Kuhlbrodt, Paulus Manker, Armin Thurnher
Schnitt
Oliver Neumann
Premiere International
26. January 2003 — Rotterdam International Filmfestival 
Premiere Österreich
22. March 2002 — Diagonale 
Kinostart
14. June 2002
Awards
Mar Del Plata Filmfestival — Competition Best International Cinema Documentary
Images Festival Toronto, Canada — Best International Film Made on Video
Houston WorldFest — Best Cinema Documentary
Other Festivals: Rhode Island, Brisbane, Bergen, Barcelona, Jewish Eye Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Istanbul IFF, DocAviv, MoMA NYC, CPH:DOX

HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age (1996)

AT

Spielfilm

18 min

Paul Poet

HOCH ZEIT - The Merry Age (1996)

Synopsis

An experimental 1990s Grunge Rock Horror Fantasy. Kenneth Anger meets
Dario Argento meets Aerosmith featuring cult musicians like the Melvins and
Neurosis. A paranoid girly girl, cross of Alicia Silverstone and Courtney Love,
is plagued by visions of marriage, parenthood, getting solid, flees her sleep
chamber to join an urban dystopia of punks and hoodlums, getting chased,
caught and finding no freedom after all. So much for teen spirit revolution.

Info
Regie
Paul Poet
Buch
Paul Poet
Filmmusik
Wolfgang "Fadi" Dorninger / Wipeout, Tribes of Neurot / Neurosis, Naked Lunch
Kamera
Ralf Jacobs
Produktion
Ulrike Schweiger
Schauspiel
Heinz Weixelbraun, Elke Gschwindl, Mark Andorfer, The Melvins, Mike Hard, Plainfield, Helmut Heiland, Fritz Plöckinger, Christian Fuchs, 3 Gordons
Premiere International
10. October 1996 — Sitges Filmfestival 
Premiere Österreich
13. June 1996 — Vienna Sounds Fair 
Kinostart
30. November -0001
Paul Poet