At 10:15 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON – then “Everyday History: In Espresso”
Vienna (OTS) – Austria’s easternmost and youngest federal state, Burgenland, is at the center of the latest edition of the cultural series “Weites Land” in the “dokFilm” on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at 10:15 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON, which focuses on the Austrian soul as well as examines the peculiarities of each federal state and its population. In her feature-length land survey, director Jennifer Rezny checks stereotypes for their truthfulness and tries to refute or confirm clichés. Do people in Burgenland find Burgenlander jokes funny? The population is warm and hospitable, but they are also accused of being excessively curious and gossipy. The people of Burgenland know how to celebrate life and festivals as they come. Of course, exploring the state is not possible without wine and Lake Neusiedl, but the focus is on the people. For example, Martin Weinek, who became a crowd favorite as a “sausage roll inspector” around the four-legged sniffer “Inspector Rex”, but today he is something of a Uhudler philosopher and, together with his wife, is a part-time winemaker in southern Burgenland. In the Austrian music scene, Ferry Janoska sets the tone as a composer and arranger. He belongs to the Roma ethnic group and has his say, as does his daughter, author and presenter Katharina Graf-Janoska. The film team also visits the Bishop Emeritus of Eisenstadt, Paul Iby, as well as a well-traveled captain of large cruise ships, for whom Burgenland is the center of the world.
Following the “Weites Land” premiere, ORF 2 will show “Everyday History – In Espresso,” produced in 2001 (11:05 p.m.), in which filmmaker Elizabeth T. Spira portrays regular guests.
More about the content of “Weites Land – Burgenland” (10:15 p.m.)
Coziness can be measured in latitudes: the further south you are, the cozier it is in Burgenland – at least Luka thinks so. The winemaker and farmer is Burgenland-Croatian, his wife Charlotte comes from Brittany. There is a colorful mix of cultures and ethnicities in his open house, and fortunately he has hardly ever had to suffer from racism.
The coziness – is it based on the wine? Martin Weinek, who once achieved great popularity as an actor with his role as “sausage roll inspector” Fritz Kunz in the hit series “Kommissar Rex”, is now a part-time winemaker and restaurateur in southern Burgenland – and something of a Uhudler philosopher. He sees the grape variety as a rebel in the wine industry because it does not require any pesticides. He appreciates a healthy phlegm in Burgenland: There is nothing that doesn’t last three days.
For author and presenter Katharina Graf-Janoska, what determines her identity is the fact that she is from Burgenland, no less than the fact that she belongs to the Roma ethnic group. She is grateful to Burgenland’s great willingness to help: it was only through the active support of the border guards that her grandmother managed to escape from what was then the CSSR in 1972. At the time, she couldn’t understand that Katharina was encouraged to keep quiet about the fact that she was Romani during her childhood. Today she knows: It was her father, the musician Ferry Janoska, who feared for her safety: four Roma were killed in the pipe bomb attack in Oberwart in 1995.
Paul Iby, Bishop Emeritus of Eisenstadt, knows that it takes a while for an identity to fully develop – and it was only in 1921 that Burgenland emerged from the rubble of the First World War to become part of Austria. But what does a clergyman do when he learns about crimes, such as a case of abuse in his own diocese? Don’t cover it up, says Iby. It is a deeper insight that people are also capable of evil. Help and forgiveness are the most important principles in dealing with this.
Morten is Norwegian and sails all over the world as a captain. He entered the port of marriage in Hochstraß in Burgenland, a village of 192 souls. Here he can satisfy his longing for the south and experience the far-reaching view of the horizon he is familiar with. Together with his wife, the tour guide Waltraud, the cruise ship captain also enjoys the famous banker culture.