hans weingartner
more about his life
Growing up in extreme poverty in the Austrian mountains as one of eight children, hans weingartner didn’t have an easy start into life.
in his childhood, he used reading books and writing stories as a way to escape his rough surroundings, often venturing through the forests around his home for days, sleeping in the open or in self-made huts.
His other hobby was computer programming. at the age of 18, he even became austrians „programmer of the year“. with the prize money he bought his first video camera, that he used to make his first movies with – first as a hobby. he traveled through the US and canada, filming. around the same time he also worked as a skiing teacher and as a canu guide in canada, rowing through the canadian wilderness alone for weeks.
resuming this phase of exploration, he moved to vienna fo follow his scientific interests. because of an interest in quantum science, he first tried to study physics, but failed in mathematics and gave it up quickly. following his interest in the human brain and psychology, he then began to study „Cognitive Science“ at the University of Vienna. he graduated with a Master diploma at the neurosurgical department of the Benjamin Franklin Clinic Berlin 5 years later.
He had moved to Berlin attracted by the free and wild spirit of the city in the years after the wall came down, and even lived in a squat house for a while. after this house got evicted, he felt the urge to once again follow his passion for film and applied for film studies at the School for Media Arts in Cologne, where he studied with a grant for the „highly gifted“ from the country of Northrine-Westfalia.
After only two years he began to film his graduation film with a group of only 8 people, using cheap cameras from the video store and a tiny budget of around 6.000 Euro. it was the first time ever that a long feature film was produced at this school. the group mostly filmed it on in their own commune apartments and on the streets of Cologne, withouth any official permits, using natural lights only, without a professinal light or sound crew.
It strook like a bomb into german cinema. „das weisse rauschen“ (the white noise), this intense drama about the sufferings of a schizophrenic young man, not only found a wide cinema release in Germany and Austria, it became an instant cult classic and jump started the career of main actor Daniel Brühl, who is today an international superstar. „das weisse rauschen“ was the most decorated first feature film ever produced in german cinema history. it won the prestigous max ophüls prize, the first steps award for best first feature film, the best „hochschulabschlussfilm“, the german film critics prize for best first film, and was even nominated for the german film prize, and it launched the career of Daniel Brühl, who won the german oscar for his powerful description of a young man suffering from schizophrenia. until this day, the film is beeing used in the education of professionals for mental health care in Germany, as an insight to the inside world of patients being affected by the mental disorder.
declining offers from large german production companies who offered him millions to make his second movie, he decided to stay independent and took the prize money he won to develop his second feature film: „die fetten jahre sind vorbei“, internationally known as „The Edukators“. shot again in a raw direct way with just a handful of dedicated people and a minimal budget.
The films was surprisingly accepted to the main competition of the film festival in cannes (after an absence of german films in this section for 17 years). It took the audience by storm, creating a record-long standing ovation of 17 minutes, and then conquered the world to become a cult classic of independent restistance cinema that questions the powers at be. it was eventually released in 52 countries and won 121 national and international film prizes.
his third film „free rainer – reclaim your brain“, a media satire, was hated by many german film critics who deemed it too commercial, but loved by the audience, who saw it as a demascation of the brutal brainwash done by german trash television and loved the brilliant performance of leading actor Moritz Bleibtreu.
after this film, it was much harder for him to gain financing for his movies, as the german film industry – especially the television sector – felt insulted by this movie and decided to boycott his work.
he still managed to put together a budget for his next film, „die summe meiner einzelnen teile (hut in the woods)“, a sensitive portray of a young man expelled from society, who tries to survive in the forests around Berlin with the help of a boy, that his psychatrists consider imaginary imaginary but is real to him. again he picked up his themes of freedom and nature and surviving as a neurodivergent person in an intolerant society. although the film was praised by the critics, and gained two nominations for the german film prize, it failed at the box office and made it much harder for him to finance his next projects.
weingartner then took a break from filmmaking and spent two years expanding his knowledge in medical sciences at the prestiguous Charité Berlin.
the road movie / love film „303“ then marked his triumphant comeback to the cinemas. he again had to shoot this film with a minimal budget with a crew of only 8 people. the road to completion was hard and took 5 years. but then, at its premiere at the berlinale film festival, it was celebrated by a frenetic audience of over 1000 people and went on to become a huge hit in german cinemas and abroad, loved by the critics as well as the audiences worldwide, and gained numerous prizes, for best director, best screenplay, and best acting for both lead actors.
hans weingartner is one of the few german filmmakes whose films are also shown internationally. since „the edukators“, every single one of his films has been distributed in cinemas abroad.
he is following his passion and is already working on new projects, at the moment in his second home brazil.
he lives with his wife and two kids in berlin and brazil.