The Gstetten saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Gstetten saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl |
,_movie_poster.png) | |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German , English |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| length | 72 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Johannes Grenzfurthner |
| script | Johannes Grenzfurthner, Roland Gratzer |
| production | Günther Friesinger , Johannes Grenzfurthner |
| music | Kasson Crooker u. a. |
| camera | Thomas Weilguny |
| cut |
Estelle Hödl , Josef P. Wagner |
| occupation | |
| |
Die Gstetten saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl is an Austrian science fiction and fantasy film from 2014 directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner . The main roles are played by Sophia Grabner and Lukas Tagwerker . The absurd comedy deals with the hype surrounding media technology and nerd culture. Grenzfurthner calls his film " agitprop , grotesque and satire " and a "specific version of contemporary fetish / spectacle criticism."
The film was co-produced by the art group monochrom and the media collective Traum & Wahnsinn and produced for the TV station ORF III .
The film received numerous media reviews and has a fan base in the hacker and tech community.
action
The growing tension between the last two remaining superpowers - China and Google - escalates at the beginning of the 21st century and leads to the global inferno of the "Google Wars". But over the decades the radioactive dust settles on old battlefields, and a New World emerges from the ashes of the ancients.
Fratt Aigner, a worn-out, sleazy journalist, and Alalia Grundschober, a nerdy technician, live and work in the megacity Schwechat , the largest semi-urban settlement at the foot of what is left of the Alps . Thurnher von Pjölk, who invented the printing press and runs the only newspaper in the country, feels threatened by the rise of a new generation of tech -savvy DIY nerds. He wants to win them over as a target group. That is why Alalia and Fratt are given the task of venturing into the depths of the unsafe surrounding area called Niederpröll and establishing a new technology: the " TV show ". You should do an interview with Echsenfriedl. Echsenfriedl is a mythical genius who has a large fan base among the nerds. Pjölk sends Alalia and Fratt out with an outside broadcast van (a wheelbarrow with a parabolic antenna) to broadcast the interview with Echsenfriedl live on "Fernschau".
Fratt is very skeptical about leaving the safety of the megacity, but Alalia is a big fan of Echsenfriedl. For them, this is a unique opportunity to find Echsenfriedl and advance their agenda of social change through technology. The trip to Echsenfriedl is not an easy task and things go wrong already at the border to Niederpröll, which is protected by the armed post . As the last force, the Post tries to preserve civilization and combat the lack of structure. The postal workers confiscate the broadcasting wheelbarrow and send Alalia and Fratt away. While trying to get their equipment back, they are kidnapped by a group of barbarians: descendants of farmers who practice a cult based on relics of bureaucracy, office supplies and vague memories of European Union agricultural subsidies . Alalia and Fratt have to force their way free and manage to escape before they end up as human sacrifices.
Alalia and Fratt wander through the post-nuclear "Gstetten" until they come across an old mining colony. They find refuge in a seemingly deserted underground structure and discover a wondrous old lady, Philine-Codec Comtesse de Cybersdorf, who was previously married to Pjölk until he tried to kill her. She tells Alalia and Fratt that it was actually Echsenfriedl who reinvented the printing press, and that he was the creative head behind Pjölk's ideas and thoughts. Pjölk was just the smiling face in public, because that was "impossible" for Echsenfriedl. The Comtesse is about to tell them important information about Echsenfriedl, but then cannibalizing, striking, undead miners invade the room and kill the Comtesse before she gets a chance to reveal the truth. Alalia Fratt manage to escape the zombie miners and meet the bearded libertarian drag queen Heinz edge of Raika, a group of tinsel clad free market leads enthusiasts. These are busy trading useless pre-war electronics for more useless pre-war electronics. Alalia notices that Heinz got the transmission equipment from the postal workers, and she swaps it back by helping the group get their useless electronics working again. Heinz then tells them where to find Echsenfriedl and even sends his daughter Ayn to accompany them.
Alalia, Fratt and Ayn reach Echsenfriedl's cave and prepare for the live broadcast at the cave entrance. They contact Pjölk, who instructs them to begin the transfer immediately. Then he turns off his "TV show" and sits down in front of his typewriter to write the headline article for tomorrow's issue of his tabloid. He fabricates a sentimental story in which he confesses that he is jointly responsible for the death of the nerd television viewers. He therefore calls for the "deadly television viewing" to be legally prohibited forever. Alalia and Fratt are unaware of the danger. You start the live broadcast. Ayn is the first to enter the cave. At the sight of Echsenfriedl, Ayn is turned to stone: Echsenfriedl is a basilisk . Hidden behind a corner and out of sight, Echsenfriedl tells Alalia and Fratt about his life. He is a great inventor and has developed many new technologies. When he started an affair with the Comtesse, he angered his greedy partner Pjölk. Pjölk's sinister plan is now to murder all early adopters of television with a single broadcast of Echsenfriedl's fatal gaze. The nerds in front of the televisions can overhear the story, take up resistance and storm Pjölk's office armed with torches and pitchforks.
Echsenfriedl subsequently takes over Pjölk's business. He is hiring Alalia and Fratt as his new crew to build a new media empire based on his wonderful new technologies. The film ends with Alalia and Fratt broadcasting live a lynching mob of book-burning nerds who passionately support the New World Order of technological dominance by Echsenfriedl.
production
script
The screenplay was written by Johannes Grenzfurthner and his monochrom colleague Roland Gratzer in November 2013 in just a few days based on their theater performance series Campaign ( Volkstheater , 2006). Some of the ideas were conceived in a café in Vienna with the entire production team. The film contains dialogues in English, German, a variety of slangs, dialects and fictional languages ( Reform Styrian ). Subtitles are an integral part of the story.
financing
The film was commissioned by ORF III as part of the TV series "Artist-in-Residence" with a budget of approx. 5000 EUR. It can therefore be viewed as a micro-budget or guerrilla film.
monochrom also took advantage of a prank built into the film to raise funds. The film, broadcast on ORF III in March 2014, contained a text overlay similar to the watermarks that are burned into festival viewing copies of films and are known from film piracy. In the text overlay, the viewer is requested to report the film as a copyright infringement by calling a premium rate telephone number (EUR 1.09 / minute). Grenzfurthner co-financed the film with the proceeds from the premium rate. According to Telepolis , he calls this new strategy "crowdratting".
Filming
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Filming began on December 2, 2013 and ended on January 19, 2014, but there were only 5 days of shooting in total. Then there were about 5 weeks left for post-production and editing.
music
Due to the fast production process and financial constraints, no new score was composed for the film. Grenzfurthner uses different chiptune , synthpop and electronica music numbers instead. Grenzfurthner chose songs with a certain retro quality because "they might sound old-fashioned to us, but not in the world of the Gstetten saga, where all electronic retro music is still impossible and futuristic". The tracks are from Symbion Project (Kasson Crooker), Max Beseda, Yakov, Robot City, Robert Glashüttner, Christoph "Burstup" Weiss (from cosmetic defects), Krach der Roboter, BLEO / Starpause, Stefan Franke and Leigh Howells.
distribution
The film was first broadcast on March 10, 2014 in Austria on ORF III . It has also been shown at film festivals and fan conventions (such as Gen Con 2014, Hackers on Planet Earth 2014, Roswell Filmfest and Cosmicon 2014, NYC Independent Film Festival etc.).
The film was put online on December 25, 2015 and is available free of charge.
criticism
“The gnostic grotesque takes place in Austria after a third world war between the two superpowers China and Google. [...] The more culturally relevant background knowledge a viewer has, the better these gags work: Anyone who knows, for example, Ursula K. Le Guin's story Rocannons Welt or Josef Haslinger's Opera Ball , will probably perceive the film's final scene differently than someone who has this title say nothing."
"The problem of the nerds (and that's also the punch line) is mainly because they all (gangs, collectives, class consciousness, etc.) the quasi-religious belief in a new metaphysics (" wisdom of the crowd " ) and always shout "Yes!" immediately when the offer "Do you want to move from the subculture into the alternative mainstream?" Analogous to the belief in a market that functions and acts according to its own natural laws (and therefore also has to be protected from harmful influences such as laws, regulations or worse), the ominous Echsenfriedl ultimately turns out to be a mythical creature , but its existence from the profiteers the »Forza Echsenfriedl« is in no way doubted either. "
“Grenzfurthners, nimble stripes that never mince words, are - if you ask me - a must. Everyone - whether intellectuals, politicians or just people who like great black comedy and sensual horror - will fall madly in love with Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl . See the film as soon as possible. "
Awards (selection)
- Indie Gathering International Film Festival - Best Foreign Horror Feature, 2014
- Fright Night Film Fest - Best Foreign Cult Movie, 2014
- Maker Film Festival - Best Narrative Feature, 2014
- International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema (London) - Best Foreign Language Feature Film, 2015
- Award of Superiority - Microfilmmaker Magazine, 2015
Web links
- The Gstettensaga: The Rise of lizards Friedl in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website of the film
- The Gstetten legend: The Rise of Echsenfriedl on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner in Jungle World , September 2014
- ↑ monochrome "Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl - ORF III. Accessed on March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Politique de l'algorithme. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (French).
- ↑ Aurelio Cianciotta: The Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl | Neural. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Stefan Tiron in PlanetNeukoln (reissued on Zacamant); August 2014
- ^ Review by Stefan Lutschinger in Furtherfield; 17th June 2014
- ↑ Review by Ishan Raval , in 2600: The Hacker Quarterly , Fall 2014
- ↑ Review by Jason Scott on textfiles.com; May 2014
- ↑ Review by V. Vale, RE / Search; May 2014
- ↑ Bonni Rambatan: Gstettensaga: The Rise of lizards Friedl - in: Telekommunisten from June 4, 2014
- ^ Campaign - a role-playing-game project - Volkstheater Wien - program Wiener Volkstheater - productions Volkstheater Wien. Retrieved March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ 7 Contagious Movies to Watch During Self-Quarantine. In: Metropolis. March 13, 2020, accessed April 19, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ Project page, background information on the film
- ↑ The Gstetten Saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl (Straight Shooter Review) | MicroFilmmaker Magazine. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Peter Mühlbauer: Austrian Mad Max II. Accessed March 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Production information on IMDb
- ↑ Interview with director Johannes Grenzfurthner on FM4; March 10, 2014
- ↑ monochrome "Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl - ORF III. Accessed on March 6, 2019 .
- ^ The Gstetten saga: a science fiction movie about the Google Wars. Retrieved March 6, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Peter Mühlbauer: Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl - in: Telepolis from April 11, 2014
- ^ Didi Neidhardt - in: Testcard # 24
- ↑ Amy R. Handler: Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl - in: Film Threat from June 18, 2014
