Markus Schleinzer wins Best New Talent at MIFF
Markus Schleinzer’s Michael won the TeleScope Award for Best New Talent from the EU at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Presented on Saturday night’s Closing Night by David Stratton, the 12 films from the TeleScope program were in the running for the award. The Solitude of Prime Numbers, directed by Saverio Costanzo received an honourable mention. The selection was made by six Film Critic Circle of Australia jury members.
Michael is the story of a hardworking, quiet man who works for an insurance company and on the exterior, leads a normal life. However at home, locked in his basement, Michael keeps a ten year-old boy named Wolfgang. The uneasy debut Austrian film from Schleinzer seems ripped from the headlines and explores five months in the lives of a paedophile and his prisoner. The film also screened at Cannes.
