Marie Kreutzer directs the new Lower Austria film “Acht” with, among others, Verena Altenberger, Stefan Pohl, Hilde Dalik and Juergen Maurer
Vienna (OTS) – One, “four”, three, “eight” – there is a separate counting method for the Lower Austria cases of the ORF country crime dramas! During the filming of the fourth film in the popular series from Lower Austria – after “The Woman with a Shoe”, “Four” and “The Guardian Angel” – Regina Fritsch in “Eight” is involved in the investigation into the death of a respected doctor and, as it turns out, weapons collector, neo-Nazi scion and esoteric influencer, supporting Thomas Prenn for the first time. The two’s investigations are influenced by one or two private topics – from unprocessed traumas to an impending divorce that has severely shaken their belief in love and partnership. So it’s no wonder that people are suspicious of the victim’s supposedly perfect marriage. Marie Kreutzer is responsible for the direction and script of her second ORF rural crime film from Lower Austria after the “Vier” case. In addition to Regina Fritsch and Thomas Prenn, Verena Altenberger, Stefan Pohl, Zeynep Buyraç, Alexander Strobele, Juergen Maurer, Hilde Dalik, Joshua Jagersberger, are or were in other roles until today, March 25th, in Langenlois, Tulbing and Vienna, among others. Lilian Rosskopf, Julia Cencig, Marcel Mohab and Eva Spreitzhofer in front of the camera. The new rural crime thriller, co-produced by ORF and ZDF, is expected to be shown on ORF 1 in 2025.
Thomas Prenn: “a nice challenge”
“Being in front of the camera as a rural crime investigator is a great challenge for me, and one that really interested me because I’ve never had the chance to play something like that before. If Marie Kreutzer develops such exciting characters with a script that she has written that goes beyond the crime thriller because it is also about the private and personal lives of the two investigators, then I am very interested in that and I am glad that I can try it out.” And then on to the film: “The doctor in a small town is shot. You learn more and more about the people he had to do with and the milieus he was in – and you also learn about my character’s past.”
Regina Fritsch: “polarizing question that will certainly keep viewers busy for a long time”
“I am very happy to be able to speak my native dialect again. The area in which we are filming triggers many childhood and teenage memories in me. I moved to the Rax/Semmering area a few years ago and therefore rarely come to the Weinviertel anymore. From this distance I can see even more clearly how much it has influenced me, what I like about it and what I don’t like about it.” And further: “In ‘Vier’ we investigated around Gars am Kamp, now Langenlois is at the center. This time, as Chief Inspector Marion Geyer, I have a new police team at my side and it is once again a really exciting, moving case. The great script by Marie Kreutzer shows intense fates and asks a polarizing question that will certainly keep the audience occupied for a long time!
“Acht” is a co-production between Film AG and ORF and ZDF, produced with the support of FISAplus, the TV Fund Austria (excellence bonus) and the state of Lower Austria.
sequel follows
Further rural thriller excitement has already been ensured: “Bis in die Seele ist mir meine Kalt” (Carinthia), “Steirergift” and “Steirermord” (Styria), “To new shores” (Upper Austria), have already been filmed and are expected to be on air in 2024. “The Dead Man in the Gorge” (Tyrol) and “Snow of Yesterday,” the first country crime thriller from East Tyrol.