Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt

Notes from the Underworld
Seated at tables in taverns and sparsely furnished rooms, captured in black-and-white images, Viennese folk singer Kurt Girk and his friend Alois Schmutzer, the “King of Vienna’s Underworld”, smoke and discuss their eventful lives. They share memories of their childhood during the war and of the wild years that followed, back when they were notorious. With just a few but incisive questions, Covi and Frimmel get the two friends, some of their fellow travellers and even opponents to open up. As if to prove they are not spinning us some cock-and-bull story, their intense anecdotes are endorsed by footage from broadcaster ORF’s archive and their own private photo albums, providing a portrait of a bygone era in which men like “Loisl” and “Kurtl” wrote urban history – the unofficial version, replete with shoot-outs, gambling debts, unbelievable conditions in prison and in the courtroom. An oral history that neither romanticises nor passes judgement, but which commands respect for the fearlessness of the two protagonists. The film’s depiction of Vienna in the 1960s fills a gap in terms of content, while formally, it shows us what contemporary cinema can do.
by Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
with Kurt Girk, Alois Schmutzer
Austria 2020 German 115’ Black/White & Colour World premiere | Documentary form

With

  • Kurt Girk
  • Alois Schmutzer

Crew

Directors Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Screenplay Rainer Frimmel
Cinematography Rainer Frimmel
Editing Tizza Covi
Music Kurt Girk
Sound Design Manuel Grandpierre
Sound Tizza Covi
Producers Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Executive Producer Rainer Frimmel

Tizza Covi

Born in Bolzano, Italy in 1971, she studied photography in Vienna and then worked as a freelance photographer in Rome. She has been collaborating with Rainer Frimmel on photography, theatre and film projects since 1996. Following the documentaries Das ist alles and Babooska, their debut feature La Pivellina premiered at Cannes and screened in the Berlinale Generation. Their second feature, Der Glanz des Tages, won the Silver Leopard at Locarno for Best Actor. Mister Universo was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at Locarno.

Filmography

2001 Das ist alles (That‘s all); co-director: Rainer Frimmel, documentary 2005 Babooska; co-director: Rainer Frimmel, documentary, Forum 2009 La Pivellina (The Little One); co-director: Rainer Frimmel, Generation 2012 Der Glanz des Tages (The Shine of Day); co-director: Rainer Frimmel, Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2016 Mister Universo; co-director: Rainer Frimmel 2020 Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt (Notes from the Underworld); co-director: Rainer Frimmel, documentary, Panorama

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020

Rainer Frimmel

Born in 1971 in Vienna, Austria, where he studied photography. He has been collaborating with Tizza Covi since 1996.

Filmography

2001 Das ist alles (That‘s all); co-director: Tizza Covi, documentary 2005 Babooska; co-director: Tizza Covi, documentary, Forum 2009 La Pivellina (The Little One); co-director: Tizza Covi, Generation 2012 Der Glanz des Tages (The Shine of Day); co-director: Tizza Covi, Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2016 Mister Universo; co-director: Tizza Covi 2020 Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt (Notes from the Underworld); co-director: Tizza Covi, documentary, Panorama

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020