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The Loneliest Man in Town

Competition 2026
© Vento Film
Al Cook lives surrounded by memories. His apartment and basement studio are crammed full of books, videotapes and vinyl records – all that remains of a life once fully lived. Here, time seems to stand still while, beyond these four walls, the world has moved on. The blues, the music that means everything to Al, is slowly being forgotten. His hometown no longer feels like home, and the loss of his beloved wife, Silvia, still weighs heavy on his heart. When a ruthless real estate company targets his home for demolition, his refuge is taken away, leaving him to face the ruins of his life. As Al is forced to let go of his treasures one by one, he must ask himself the painful question: How do you move forward when memories are all you have left? In the face of total loss, he chooses a radical new beginning.
by Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel (Director), Tizza Covi (Screenplay)
with Alois Koch, Brigitte Meduna, Alfred Blechinger, Flurina Schneider Austria 2026 German 86' Colour World premiere

With

  • Alois Koch (Al Cook)
  • Brigitte Meduna (Brigitte)
  • Alfred Blechinger (Fredi)
  • Flurina Schneider (The student)

Crew

Director Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Screenplay Tizza Covi
Cinematography Rainer Frimmel
Editing Tizza Covi, Emily Artmann
Music Al Cook
Sound Design Nora Czamler
Production Design Lotte Lyon, Christian Gschier
Casting Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Producers Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Executive Producers Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

Produced by

Vento Film

Wien, Austria

World Sales

Be For Films

Paris, France

Photos

Press Conference

Red Carpet

Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

© Anna Stöcher

Tizza Covi was born in Bolzano, Italy in 1971. Rainer Frimmel was born in Vienna, Austria in 1971. They have been collaborating since 1996 in film, theatre and photography. Their work often features at the Berlinale, including Babooska in the Forum, which won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize; La Pivellina in Generation and Der Glanz des Tages in Perspektive Deutsches Kino. Their film Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt screened in Panorama and won a Special Mention from the Berlinale Documentary Award Jury. Tizza Covi was a member of the Encounters Jury in 2024.

Filmography

2001 Das ist alles (That’s all); documentary 2005 Babooska; documentary 2009 La Pivellina 2012 Der Glanz des Tages (The Shine of Day) 2016 Mister Universo 2020 Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt (Notes from the Underworld); documentary 2022 Vera 2026 The Loneliest Man in Town

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026