Bellaria - As Long As We Live

Colour, 35mm
Germany, Austria, 2001, 100 min
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

In one of the smaller streets of the Austrian capital stands the old-time Bellaria cinema, whose repertoire consists of films from the years 1932-1948. Here, week in, week out, a group of passionate admirers of the good old days set out on a nostalgic journey into the past. After an introduction to this strange place, where time came to astandstill several decades ago, director Douglas Wolfsperger allows us a glimpse of these somewhat eccentric filmgoers whose engaging private lives and more or less fulfilled desires strangely correspond to the phantasmic world of the silver screen watched from the dusky rows of this antiquated cinema. The melancholic documentary Bellaria - As Long As We Live thus offers a fascinating sociological insight into this society of unusual aficionados of the tenth muse, perceiving the reality of contemporary Austria through the lives of their favourite film heroes.

About the director

Douglas Wolfsperger (1958, Zurich) collaborated on programmes for the German television networks SWF and WDR and is currently writing and directing feature and documentary films. Filmography: Feature films - Lebe kreuz und sterbe quer (1985), Kies (1986), Probefahrt ins Paradies (1992), Heirate mir! (1999). Documentary films - Das letzte Geleit (1991), Windeln, Wehen und Kaffeekannen (1995), Die Königin vom Bahnhofsklo (1996), Die unvollständige Frau (1997), Zünftig und super gut drauf (1998), Die Erben vom Prickingshof (1999), Bellaria – As Long As We Live (Bellaria - So lange wir leben, 2001).