Sleeping with a Tiger explained

Sleeping with a Tiger
Native Name:
Director:Anja Salomonowitz
Starring:Birgit Minichmayr
Music:Bernhard Fleischmann
Cinematography:Jo Molitoris
Editing:Joana Scrinzi
Runtime:107 minutes
Country:Austria
Language:German

Sleeping with a Tiger (German: '''Mit einem Tiger schlafen''') is a 2024 Austrian biographical film directed by Anja Salomonowitz. The film starring Birgit Minichmayr tells the story about the artist Maria Lassnig.[1]

It was selected in the Forum section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 17 February 2024.[2] It was released theatrically on 12 April 2024 in Austria.[1]

Synopsis

Sleeping with a Tiger is a hybrid of genres about the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig. It depicts her struggle in the male-dominated art world, her struggle for her art, her quest for her very personal artistic expression in which she expressed her pain on the canvas. And then also a film about her great artistic achievement.

The film is a biopic with a unique style. The painter is always portrayed by the same actress: no matter what age Maria Lassnig is shown in the film - whether 6, 14, 64 or 94 years old - the same person plays her, without any make-up to alter her age, so she always looks the same. She travels through time as a timeless figure. This is an artistic interpretation of her mental state. It is said that Maria Lassnig was ageless, wise as a young girl and youthful as an old woman. This means that this film is not really a biopic: it is a poetic approach to the fact that our soul never changes.[3]

Cast

Production

The film produced by the Austrian coop99 with Antonin Svoboda as producer, has the Stadtkino Filmverleih as the distributor for Austria. The production was supported by the Austrian Film Institute, the Vienna Film Fund, Film Location Austria (FISA), the state of Lower Austria and the state of Carinthia. Austrian Broadcasting Corporation are television participants for the film, which is directed and written by Anja Salomonowitz, with Jo Molitoris as the director of photography and Joana Scrinzi as the editor.

Filming took place over 28 days from 17 March 2022 in Vienna, Carinthia and Lower Austria. Film was also shot in the coat of arms hall of the Landhaus Klagenfurt, where Lassnig's exhibition from 1947 was recreated, and in Feistritz ob Grades, where the painter died in 2014.[4] The filming ended on 3 May 2022.[5]

Release

Sleeping with a Tiger had its world premiere on 17 February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in Forum.[6] [7] [8]

It was released theatrically on 12 April 2024 in Austria by Stadtkino Filmverleih.[9]

Reception

Susanne Gottlieb reviewing the film at Berlinale for Cineuropa wrote, "Delving into the life of Austrian painter Maria Lassnig with a non-linear approach, Anja Salomonowitz breaks with the traditional biopic while also keeping her subject an enigma."[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sleeping with a Tiger. 2 February 2024 . Austrian Film Institute . en.
  2. Web site: The Berlinale lifts the veil on its full Forum line-up . Vassilis . Economou . 18 January 2024. 2 February 2024 . . en.
  3. Web site: Mit einem Tiger schlafen . Sleeping with a tiger . coop99 filmproduktion . 17 March 2022 . 2 February 2024. de.
  4. Web site: Leben von Maria Lassnig wird verfilmt . Life of Maria Lassnig is being made into a film. ORF . 25 April 2022. 2 February 2024. de.
  5. Web site: Sleeping with a Tiger Feature Film, 2022-2023 – Biopic – Austria . Crew United . 17 March 2022 . 2 February 2024. en.
  6. Web site: Berlinale Unveils Full Panorama, Forum & Generation Line-Ups With New Films By Nathan Silver, Levan Akin, André Téchiné & Bruce LaBruce. Deadline. Melanie . Goodfellow. 17 January 2024. 2 February 2024.
  7. Web site: Berlinale unveils complete 2024 Panorama, Generation, Forum sections . Ben . Dalton . 17 January 2024 . 2 February 2024 . . en.
  8. Web site: Sleeping with a Tiger . Berlinale . 6 February 2024 . 6 February 2024.
  9. Web site: Sleeping with a Tiger Feature Film biography . Austrian Film Institute . 17 March 2022 . 2 February 2024. en.
  10. Web site: Review: Sleeping with a Tiger . Susanne . Gottlieb . 20 February 2024. 21 February 2024 . Cineuropa . en.