ALLENTSTEIG

Synopsis

The belief that there are no more white spots on Austria’s map is not quite right: In 1938 the German army established one of Europe’s largest military training grounds in northern Lower Austria. The over 160 square kilometers it covers is still restricted.

Nikolaus Geyrhalter approaches this literally occupied territory from a variety of new directions: the choreography of daily drills, the people who live on the edge of this area, and those who were resettled many years ago. Dozens of plant and animal species now live in this area, apparently without being affected by the activity and noise.

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Biography

Nikolaus Geyrhalter was born in Vienna, Austria in 1972. Twenty-two years later he formed his own production company: Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion. He made his first film, EISENERZ, in 1992. Two years later, he shot his first documentary, WASHED ASHORE (1994) it is telling a story about the river Danube and often strange idiosyncrasies of the people who live along its banks. Geyrhalter’s static-camera, well-paced observational films tackle their subjects head-on, whether it’s exploring the terrain in Chernobyl, Ukraine (PRIPYAT - 1998), tracing the route of the Dakar Rally (7915 KM - 2008), or investigating the production of processed foods (OUR DAILY BREAD - 2005). In 2003 he received Austrian State Award for Film Art and in 2008 his film OUR DAILY BREAD won the Grimme Prize.