Klaus Thomas Steindl (born 20 June 1966 in Graz, Austria) is an author, [1] [2] scriptwriter & director, [3] film producer [4] [5] and owner of the company KREATIVkraft e.U. [6] His primary focus is on nature and investigative documentaries that deal with internationally relevant issues, particularly in the field of Outstanding Biographies. Most of his award-winning documentaries have been produced for the international prime-time market.
Steindl studied directing and stage design at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. [7] In 1987 his professor Wolfram Skalicki [8] encouraged him to take on the role of assistant director to Lotfi Mansouri at Opéra de Nice (“Hérodiade”). [9] He then worked as a freelance director for experimental theater performances before entering the field of film in 1991. After directing several award-winning commercials Steindl decided to focus on producing documentary films. [10]
In 2017 the European art and culture broadcaster ARTE opened its one-week anniversary program "25 Years of ARTE" with the German/French premiere of Steindl's feature-film-length docu-drama "Venice and the Ghetto". [11] [12]
As well as producing and directing films, Klaus Steindl is involved with promoting and supporting young and new talents. He developed the educational concept and the first curriculum for the „Film und Medien Initiative“, a Graz-based film academy for children and adolescents. [13] Furthermore, he was a member of the board of the Documentary Campus and a member of the commission for film funding in Styria, Austria, for several years. [14] Over the years CINESTYRIA Film Commission has been successful in attracting large international film productions to the region. For example, several scenes from the James Bond film Spectre were shot at Styria's Altaussee lake. [15]
In the course of his career Steindl has produced over 30 primetime documentaries. More than half of them were devised as international productions in several languages, produced with European and U.S. partners and broadcast around the globe. As well as producing high-quality wildlife and nature documentaries - like the successful Wild Venice, shown all over the world, [16] [17] Steindl focuses on investigative films that deal with internationally relevant historical themes. His research has frequently led to new scientific discoveries, most recently in The Nero Files - Uncovering an Ancient Conspiracy and Lost City of Gladiators - Carnuntum. For his film Vampire Princess he discovered the historical inspiration for Bram Stoker's legendary Dracula character:
"Picture a spectacular vampire attack at the tomb of an Austrian princess. A scene from Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series? No. It's the deleted opening to Bram Stoker's "Dracula," a horror classic that many experts believe was actually based on a woman. Archaeologists, historians, and forensic scientists revisit the days of vampire hysteria in the eighteenth-century Czech Republic and re-open the unholy grave of dark princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg. They uncover her story, once buried and long forgotten, now raised from the dead." [18] Official Info Smithsonian Channel
Steindl has also played a significant role in the development of the docudrama genre. The writer and director has recently begun to focus more on the field of Human interest. As a director, he is increasingly interested in genre-spanning narrative film direction.
Klaus T. Steindl works closely with internationally renowned research facilities while developing and producing his films. Partners have included Yale University and the University of Arizona for The Voynich Code, University of Oxford in the U.K. and ETH Zurich in Switzerland for The Mona Lisa Mysteries and the Washington and Lee University in Lexington for "The Nero Files". He was granted access to Cold War intelligence files stored in the KGB and FSB archives in Moscow for the film Margarethe Ottillinger. In his docu drama "Venus of Willendorf - The Naked Truth" the statuette of a naked woman provides a starting point for a ground-breaking scientific re-interpretation of the relationship between Stone Age men and woman (since Facebook banned the 29,500 years old artwork of the Stone Age for being "dangerously pornographic" [19] the just 11 centimeteres tall statuette became an international celebrity).
Several of Steindl's works have been accepted into the libraries of European and U.S. universities. [20] Many have been adapted for use in schools in a variety of forms and have received the European "Comenius EduMedia" Award for Educational Media. [21] [22]
The Miami Jewish Film Festival shows Steindl´s film "Rothschild Saga" in the "Official Selection 2023" (North America Premiere). Official film description: "This rich and nuanced portrait of the remarkable, elusive Rothschild family uncovers the story behind the family's phenomenal economic success. The film tells the dynasty’s incredible saga, from the confines of the Frankfurt ghetto to the halls of royal palaces, all the while emphasizing the importance they placed on family unity and the profound role Judaism played in their lives, later using their influence to assist oppressed Jews throughout Europe. A definitive work of documentary cinema with a thoroughly engaging narrative, The Rothschild Saga brings their mysterious and fascinating history to life." [23]
| "The Rothschild Saga" [49] | "Miami Jewish Film Festival 2023" "Vienna Jewish Film Festival 2022" | |
| "Mystery of the Celtic Tomb" [50] | ’‘US International Film & Video Festival’‘ Category: Documentary-History | |
| "Wild Venice" [34] | "White Dolphin" (Grand Prix) Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards 2015 | |
| "The Lagoon of Venice" [51] | Comenius Award for educational media | |
| ‘‘The Mona Lisa Mystery’‘ [52] | ’‘New York Festivals’‘ Gold Medal Award Category: Science & Technology | |
| ’‘US International Film & Video Festival’‘ Certificate for Creative Excellence | ||
| ’‘The Tulip Bubble’‘ [53] | ’‘New York Festivals’‘ International TV & Film Awards Bronze World Medal | |
| ’‘Prix Victoria’‘ in Gold Category: TV/Economy - Internationale Wirtschaftsfilmtage | ||
| ’‘Cannes’‘ ‘‘Corporate Media & TV Awards’‘ Winner Category: Business & Economy | ||
| ‘‘Let it snow!’‘ [54] | ’‘Cine’‘ ‘‘Golden Eagle Award’‘ | |
| ’‘Telenatura’‘ International Television Festival Pamplona | ||
| ’‘International Wildlife’‘ Film Festival Montana | ||
| ’‘Matsalu’‘ Nature Film Festival | ||
| ’‘Bergfilmfestival’‘ Tegernsee | ||
| ‘‘The Vampire Princess’‘ [55] | ’‘Cine’‘ ‘‘Golden Eagle Award’‘ | |
| ’‘The Voynich Code"‘ [56] [57] | ’‘US International Film & Video Festival’‘ Certificate for Creative Excellence | |
| ’‘New York Festivals’‘ International TV & Film Awards Silver World Medal | ||
| ‘‘The Secret of the Mona Lisa’‘ [30] | ’‘Prix Victoria’‘ in Silver Kategorie: Sponsoring, Non-Profit | |
| ‘‘Tracking down Composers’‘ [51] | ’‘Comenius EduMedia’‘ Medal + Seal for educational media | |
| ’‘The European Parliament’‘ [51] | ‘‘Comenius EduMedia’‘ Seal for educational media | |
| ‘‘The Austrian Parliament‘ [51] | ‘‘Comenius EduMedia’‘ Seal for educational media |
Graz is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Styria and the second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. As of 1 January 2024, Graz had a population of 303,270. In 2023, the population of the Graz larger urban zone (LUZ) stood at 660,238. Graz is known as a college and university city, with four colleges and four universities. Combined, the city is home to more than 60,000 students. Its historic centre (Altstadt) is one of the best-preserved city centres in Central Europe.
Carnuntum was a Roman legionary fortress and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became a large city of approximately 50,000 inhabitants.
Styria is an Austrian state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately 16,399 km2 (6,332 sq mi), Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and clockwise, from the southwest, by the other Austrian states of Carinthia, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Burgenland. The state's capital is Graz, the second largest city in Austria after only Vienna.
Hallstatt is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut region, on the national road linking Salzburg and Graz.
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of its area by the La Tène culture. It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic speaking populations.
The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516 by decree of Doge Leonardo Loredan and the Venetian Senate. It was not the first time that Jews in Venice were compelled to live in a segregated area of the city. In 1555, Venice had 160,208 inhabitants, including 923 Jews, who were mainly merchants.
The Eternal Jew is a 1940 antisemitic Nazi propaganda film, presented as a documentary. The film's initial German title was Der ewige Jude, the German term for the character of the "Wandering Jew" in medieval folklore. The film was directed by Fritz Hippler at the insistence of Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.
Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, with over 170 versions to date. Running a distant second are adaptations of the 1872 novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Vampire in Venice, also known as Prince of the Night and Nosferatu in Venice is a 1988 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Augusto Caminito and an uncredited Klaus Kinski, and starring Kinski, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pleasence, and Barbara De Rossi. The story follows Professor Paris Catalano (Plummer), who travels to Venice following the trail of the last known appearance of Nosferatu (Kinski), who was seen at Carnival in 1786. Catalano learns through a séance that the vampire is seeking eternal death, and tries to put an end to its existence once and for all.
ORF 1 is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955, with regular programming started in 1957 when it now operated six days a week, then began broadcasting every day in 1961.
Christof Unterberger is an Austrian cellist and film composer.
The Diagonale is a film festival that takes place every March in Graz, Austria.
"Dracula's Guest" is a short story by Bram Stoker, first published in the short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914). It is believed to have been intended as the first chapter for Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, but was deleted prior to publication as the original publishers felt it was superfluous to the story.
Günther Neukirchner is a former Austrian football player in the position of a defender. He spent the greatest part of his active career with the traditional Styrian club SK Sturm Graz, with whom he enjoyed great success.
Frederick Douglas Stephan "Fred" Baker was an Austrian-British filmmaker, media scholar, and archaeologist.
Stefan Lukas Hierländer is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Austrian Bundesliga club Sturm Graz and the Austria national team.
Klaus Händl is an Austrian actor, writer and director.
The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, also known as Kunstuniversität Graz (KUG) is an Austrian university. Its roots can be traced back to the music school of the Akademischer Musikverein founded in 1816, making it the oldest university of music in Austria.
Roman Kariolou is a Cypriot pianist and composer for TV and film. In addition to compositions for events in media and sport, he has written incidental and theme music for over fifty TV films and series as well as a number of documentaries since 2007.
Events in the year 2021 in Austria.
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