Jannis Lenz
Directing
Biography
Jannis Lenz studied Directing in the Masters Programme of Jessica Hausner at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he also worked as an assistant for Michael Haneke. Grown up in Germany, he collected his first camera and directing experiences by filming his friends and himself practising Le Parkour. His video installations, which explore dance and performing bodies in public spaces are presented in museums and exhibitions worldwide. Lenz´ films are regularly shown at International Film Festivals like IFF Rotterdam, FNC Montreal, Sarajevo IFF, Palm Springs ISFF and won numerous awards and prizes. His Bachelor-Degree Film WANNABE won the Prix Clermont-Ferrand and got nominated for the European Film Awards. The borderline between fictional and documentary storytelling is something that Lenz explores in many different ways, often in collaboration with non-professional actors, addressing questions regarding identity, role models, and belonging in a globalized society. He has been invited several times to speak about his way of working as a filmmaker and to give workshops at schools, universities and film festivals. His Master-Graduation Film and first Feature Documentary SOLDAT AHMET premiered at Visions du Réel, won many awards, e.g. the Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award or the Award of the Austrian Film Institute for Best Umcoming Director and had a theatrical release in cinemas in 2022. Currently Jannis is developing his first narrative Feature Film FREAKS as part of the Talent Film Program of Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film in Germany.
Known For
17-year-old Coco wants to become famous. She goes to each audition, but is rejected time and again. On her YouTube channel, she creates a fictional world in which everything is perfect and her self-confidence is based on likes and followers.
Wannabe
A medieval saga and the surreal game in a chat group gradually give shape to a creature that makes its tracks through the big city. As the plot develops, the urban environment increasingly gains significance, with social and political themes influencing the progress of the story.
Concrete Whisper
Ahmet has not cried anymore since he was 13 years old. Out of the need to deal with his emotions, the 29 year old professional soldier and boxer takes acting lessons. The desire to combine his everyday life with the increasingly important passion for acting, threatens to fail in the prejudices of the people around him - in the familiar environment with its tight structures as well as in the seemingly liberal world that has opening up to him.
Soldier Ahmet
No description available.
Freaks
Originating in the Parisian suburbs, Parkour is a “kinetic” art form that involves jumping walls and other obstacles in urban environments. Zero-G follows a group of Parkour “tracers” from Vienna and slam artist Fatima Moumouni, who pens a poem on the city and young people’s attitude to life.
Zero-G
CONCRETE WHISPER is rooted in the 1920 surrealist game "Exquisite Corpse", adapted into a modernized chat group format. The legend of the Basilisk is a thematic thread in the film as it playfully delves into the creation of urban myths. The narrative unfolds as stories evolve freely and unpredictably through retellings from person to person.
Concrete Whisper
Gonzo is a polar bear, born in the wrong body. He must find the confidence and courage in himself to overcome the ignorance and violence of others. A heavy metal fairy tale in reminiscence of Hunter S. Thompson.
Gonzo
A story of the inner life of a military base as a microcosm that seems to have been plucked out of another time. Soldiers focus meticulously on gardening instead of preparing themselves for war.
Battlefield
Kickboxing is Ahmet's life. The 23-year-old's physical strength is his main source of self-confidence. But with personal problems beginning to mount, he loses control over his strength and commits a violent felony at a Viennese disco that lands him in court. His last chance to take his personal and occupational future into his own hands is an anti-aggression training program in which he is enrolled alongside his suspended sentence. So now, Ahmet is not only confronted with the physical challenges of his boxing career, but also pushed to the limit psychologically by confrontational exchanges with his two social workers that force him to deal with his weaknesses and inner conflicts. A challenging test that he can withstand only with difficulty.