Afterwards: “The greatest narrator is light – the writer Christoph Ransmayr” – on March 18th from 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – Clarissa Stadler presents “kulturMontag” on March 18, 2024 at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2, which will, among other things, present David Schalko’s new film work, the ORF co-produced miniseries “Kafka,” and welcome the filmmaker to the studio. The program is also dedicated to the new Renaissance exhibition “Holbein. Burgkmair. Dürer” in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and deals with the sharp rise in anti-Semitism worldwide. After the cultural magazine, the portrait “The greatest narrator is light – the writer Christoph Ransmayr” (11.30 p.m.) is on the program to mark the author’s 70th birthday.
Bachelor, hypochondriac, self-doubter – six-part ORF miniseries “Kafka” on the 100th anniversary of the writer’s death
Franz Kafka died 100 years ago and to this day he is the most widely read author in the German language. Existential fears, alienation and isolation – experiences that the author himself has had and addressed in his works, topics that shape the lives of many people, especially in today’s crisis-ridden times. Filmmaker David Schalko has now dedicated a six-part, star-studded TV series to Franz Kafka, which the co-producing ORF will broadcast on March 24th and 25th. Schalko wrote the scripts together with best-selling author Daniel Kehlmann and worked on the project repeatedly for ten years. The series traces Kafka’s life, shows a man who went through a world war and whose tuberculosis meant he had little time for life and his literature. The 34-year-old Swiss Joel Basman took on the title role. Lia von Blarer stars as his long-time fiancée Felice Bauer, David Kross plays Kafka’s friend Max Brod and Nicholas Ofczarek plays his strict and domineering father Hermann. The role of Milena Jesenská, the writer with whom Kafka had a short but intense relationship, is played by Liv Lisa Fries. An outstanding cast, as even supporting roles are filled with stars like Verena Altenberger and Lars Eidinger. Are Franz Kafka’s nightmares our daily reality? Among other things Director David Schalko talks about this live in the studio with Clarissa Stadler.
Departure, upheaval, breakthrough – exhibition “Holbein. Burgkmair. Dürer” from March 19th at the KHM
The Renaissance reached its peak at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century. The ambitious goal of reviving the art and culture of Greco-Roman antiquity fueled creative minds and artist-scholars such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. But also in northern Europe, based on the humanistic culture of Italy, a new type of person developed who no longer just wanted to believe, but wanted to get to the bottom of things. Augsburg in Bavaria – the city of power, money and the arts – is one of the centers of the Renaissance in the north. It’s hard to imagine today that at the beginning of the 16th century, Augsburg was a global metropolis, the seat of global commercial companies, especially the Fugger dynasty, which is still known today. There was therefore plenty of money for luxurious commissions. Created by painters such as Hans Burgkmair, who made a name for himself as Emperor Maximilian I’s court graphic artist, or Hans Holbein, who left behind a unique “who’s who” of Augsburg society. Albrecht Dürer from Nuremberg achieved a special mastery in realism. The picture of his mother from 1514 is considered one of the best examples of an absolutely lifelike depiction and is also probably the first picture of a dying person. The Art History Museum in Vienna will be dedicating itself to the Renaissance as a turning point from March 19th with the sensational show “Holbein. Burgkmair. Dürer – Renaissance in the North”.
Gloomy diagnosis – global hatred of Jews
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists attacked visitors to the “Supernova” music festival near the Gaza Strip:
More than 1,000 people were killed and hundreds were kidnapped. The Israeli filmmaker Yossi Bloch has attempted to use documentary means to deal with the atrocities of that day. This attempt at reconstruction was made possible by numerous cell phone videos from festival participants and recordings from so-called body cameras that the attackers from Gaza had equipped themselves with. “Supernova” is the name of the stirring documentary that will be shown together with another 40 feature films, documentaries and short films at this year’s Jewish Film Festival in Vienna. Bloch’s report, however, makes it clear that the attack dramatically changed the lives of Jews not only in the Middle East, but also in Europe and the USA. The war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas has been raging for five months now. The Israeli government’s massive military counter-offensive reveals a sharp rise in anti-Semitism in the Western world: arson attacks on synagogues, hate speech at schools, a mob that denies Israel’s right to exist. How little does the promise “Never again” apply and how much has anti-Semitism become socially acceptable again? “kulturMontag” spoke about this with filmmaker Yossi Bloch, the author and director of the Jewish theater in New York Tuvia Tenebom and the renowned journalist Michel Friedman (guest in the “Ö1-Journal” on March 16 at 12 p.m.). In his most recent book, “Jewish Hatred,” the latter addresses the failure of politics and the ignorance of society and examines the question of how attacks on fellow Jews could be prevented.
Documentary “The greatest narrator is light – the writer Christoph Ransmayr” (11.30 p.m.)
He travels to the most remote places in the world, pushes boundaries and crosses them – most of the books by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr bear witness to this. In many of his literary works he describes historical events and links them to the present. His language is eloquent and artistic. To explore the world, the native of Upper Austria prefers walking. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, he goes on a hike up the mountain and into the interior of a mountain together with Martin Traxl in the documentary “The Greatest Narrator is Light – The Writer Christoph Ransmayr”. The film looks back on his childhood, his literary work and his world of thought.
The first stories Ransmayr came into contact with were children’s songs. Sung by his mother, they became deeply embedded in his memory. But his father, who was also his teacher, also laid an important foundation for his son’s first adventure trips with his extensive library, as well as his fascination for stories and language.
Christoph Ransmayr became a restless traveler and tireless writer. His first novel, “The Terror of Ice and Darkness,” about the Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition from 1872 to 1874, received the best reviews. It was his only work that was created exclusively from sources. All other works are based on my own experiences. Part of it is summarized in the book “Atlas of a Fearful Man”. It is a world atlas across continents and times, told in 70 episodes, which not only tells about life and death, about people’s happiness and fate, but also about the fear, a kind of caution of the traveler.
But it’s not just places and places that Christoph Ransmayr takes his readers to. With stories such as “Cox: or the Passage of Time” or his most recently published novel “The Fallmaster,” he also provides insights into space and time as well as the depths of the human soul.
“The Greatest Narrator is Light – The Writer Christoph Ransmayr” is a documentary about the longing to travel, borderline experiences and the author’s penchant for history.