FESTIVALS
Zurich Film Festival 2020
Trento Film Festival 2021
DOK.fest Munich 2020
Visions du Réel 2020
Der Neue Heimatfilm 2021
Alpin Film Festival 2021
Kharkiv Meets Docs 2021
Ethnofest Athen 2021
IFF Bucovina 2021
Bel Docs 2022
CREW
Director: Lukas Pitscheider
DOP: Steven Heyse
Editing: Johannes Schellhorn
Editing assistance: Julia Willi
Director’s assistance: Pavlo Bishko
Sound Department: Werner Weitschacher
Foley Artist: Otger Kunert
Color Grading: Stefan Andermann (ARRI Media, Munich)
Music Composition: Christian Bakanic, Klemens Bittmann, Christofer Frank
Music Recording: Christofer Frank
Graphic Design: Jens Müller, Sebastian Gansrigler
Production: LUKASPIT Filmproduktion
SUPPORTED BY
ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen
CINE ART Styria
Zukunftsfond der Republik Österreich
Kultur Oberösterreich
Provinz Bozen – Amt für Film und Medien
Kultur Tirol
Wien Kultur – Magistratsabteilung 7
Otto Mauer Fond
OeAD-Kooperationsbüro Lemberg
DISTRIBUTION
Austria: Cinematograph Filmverleih
For stills, presskit, posters and other press material check the PRESS FOLDER.
Königsfeld is an Austrian village in the middle of the Ukrainian Carpathians. As far as the eye can see, the small community is surrounded by thick forest. Lorries loaded with heavy logs race through the valley road, which is crisscrossed by deep potholes. Wood dominates the village, including the houses, whose construction is reminiscent of that from the Alpine Austria. On the side of the road, mostly older people watch the goings-on with a nostalgic look.
The ancestors of the Austrian inhabitants were relocated from the west to the east of the then Habsburg monarchy in the 18th century. Today the German-speaking community has only a few dozen members. In a wave, the majority of the population emigrated to the west in the 1990s, and their houses were largely taken over by neighboring villages. 'Emigrate or stay?' is still the most important question today. While migration appears to be the only way of survival for some community members, others draw new hope bringing tourism into the valley.
Four protagonists and their families are accompanied in the film over a period of three years in their life decisions.
Elisabeth Kais spent the 84 years of her life in her village, when all of a sudden she is forced to leave her home forever. Peter Sojma did already emigrated to Germany in the 90s, but he returned after a short time. Today, as vice-mayor, he tries to repair the bad roads in order to make the valley accessible again from the outside. Vitali Fedak is the father of a young daughter. Since the wages from his work in the sawmill are no longer sufficient to support his family, he is faced with the question of whether he should go to the Czech Republic to work. For Joseph Horkawtschuk, emigration was never an option, he discovered tourism as a source of income and wants to open the first local ski area. Therefore he is looking for a used ski lift to import from the west.
(Original title: Die letzten Österreicher)
Austria/Ukraine (2020), 85 minutes
German (Austrian dialect), Ukrainian (Transkarpatian dialect)
Subtitles available in English, German, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, French
DCP
Full HD 16:9
5.1 Dolby Surround or Stereo
LukasPit Filmproduktion
Lukas Pitscheider, MA (FH)
info@thelastaustrians-film.com
+43 680 23 83 771
+39 377 32 47 274
