Photo: Camilla Camaglia
Anna de Paoli
Film Producer / University Lecturer
Awarded Best Producer at the Filmfest Munich 2018, Anna de Paoli seeks in her productions the „crack in reality“.
For her boutique company Schattenkante she produces unique auteur-genre films such as DER SAMURAI (dir. by Till Kleinert), as well as A YOUNG MAN WITH HIGH POTENTIAL and DR. KETEL (both dir. by Linus de Paoli). Her films were present at A-list-festivals around the world and won awards such as the German Independence Award, the Silver Méliès and the Golden Lola for Best Short (KOKON by Till Kleinert and Tom Akinleminu). She co-directed the documentary 24 HOURS SCHLESISCHES TOR with Eva Lia Reinegger.
Anna de Paoli is a lecturer at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. As founder of the film education initiative FILM MACHT SCHULE, she initiates encounters between filmmakers/artists and young people. Previously, she worked as senior lecturer for film production at the DFFB film school, as program manager for German films at the Berlinale and as an undertaker trainee. She lives with her family in Berlin.
©APA Roland Schlager
Dominik Hartl
At the age of 12, Dominik Hartl discovered his love for the horror genre through bloody stop-motion films. With his graduation project from the Film Academy Vienna in 2012, he brought the award-winning horror comedy “Vienna Waits for You” / “Spitzendeckchen” to the screen.
His first feature film, the coming-of-age drama “Beautiful Girl”, was released in theaters in 2015. Shortly after, he directed the trashy zombie comedy “Attack of the Lederhosenzombies” (2016), which also served as the opening film of the Slash Film Festival that year. Both films were very successful internationally at film festivals.
In 2018, he combined his affinity for coming-of-age and body horror in the teen slasher “Party Hard, Die Young” / “Die letzte Party deines Lebens”, which became one of the most watched Austrian films of the year.
With “The Washing Machine”, Hartl won the Austrian Film Award for Best Short Film in 2021. His TV movie debut “Azra” received enthusiastic feedback from critics and viewers alike in May 2023.
Most recently, Dominik Hartl worked on the first two seasons of the TV drama series “School of Champions”, where he once again explores the coming-of-age genre, this time in the context of competitive sports.
Fotos: Felix Vratny
Lola Basara und Peter Hengl
Lola Basara and Peter Hengl have been a filmmaking duo for more than a decade (Peter writes and directs, Lola produces). Their collaboration began while studying at the Vienna Film Academy, and they have since opened a joint production company, Capra Films, which aims to create sophisticated feature-length genre films with an Austrian identity for national and international audiences.
The first feature produced by their company is the horror film FAMILY DINNER, written and directed by Peter, with Lola producing. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and was screened at more than thirty film festivals around the world, including BIFAN, Fantastic Fest, Fright Fest and Sitges. Celebrating its Austrian premiere at the Viennale in 2022, it opened nationwide on January 27, 2023.
Lola and Peter have participated in several international networking workshops, for instance the European Genre Forum for emerging genre talents, and have served as jurors in numerous festivals. They were also mentors at the Campfire Tales 2023.
Currently, the duo is working on various genre projects presented in different markets such as Berlin, Cannes, and Montreal. They collaborate as coauthors but also develop projects with external filmmakers, for instance with Michael Winiecki on his film Im Moorland, which was one of last year’s winning projects at the Campfire Tales.