I AM HERE!

  • 70'
  • Austria
  • 2023

Ludwig Wüst is a veritable phenomenon of Austrian cinema — an outsider who delivers at least one fiction feature per year, with little official support, often shot in a day or two after careful preparations. Most of his films are improvisation-based, with Wüst putting his actors into a clearly defined space with a rough trajectory for their movements as well as the story's development — leaving everything else to them. The method changes somewhat from film to film, but the spirit of restless experimentation remains.

In I AM HERE!, Wüst gave 16mm and its limitations on shooting a try, resulting in one of his most beautiful and intense works. Little happens outside childhood friends Monika and Martin talking while walking through a forest towards a barren field and a car. Their talk is simultaneously incessant and halting as they circle a history of hurt from their younger days.

In the harsh decisiveness of the editing, one feels the carpenter that Wüst is by training, bringing a sensibility that makes his films often look raw yet whole and polished at the same time. Finally, this maverick found his way to IFFR!

 

Olaf Möller

  • 70'
  • Austria
  • 2023
Director
Ludwig Wüst
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
Austria
Year
2023
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
70'
Medium
DCP
Language
German
Producers
Ludwig Wüst, Maja Savić
Sales
Ludwig Wüst
Screenplay
Ludwig Wüst
Cinematography
Klemens Koscher
Editor
Samuel Käppeli
Production Design
Ludwig Wüst
Sound Design
Josef Umschaid, Manuel Grandpierre
Cast
Markus Schramm, Martina Spitzer
Director
Ludwig Wüst
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
Austria
Year
2023
Festival Edition
IFFR 2023
Length
70'
Medium
DCP
Language
German
Producers
Ludwig Wüst, Maja Savić
Sales
Ludwig Wüst
Screenplay
Ludwig Wüst
Cinematography
Klemens Koscher
Editor
Samuel Käppeli
Production Design
Ludwig Wüst
Sound Design
Josef Umschaid, Manuel Grandpierre
Cast
Markus Schramm, Martina Spitzer