Virgil Widrich facts for kids

Virgil Widrich - 2016

Virgil Widrich (born May 16, 1967, in Salzburg) is an Austrian director, screenwriter, filmmaker, and multimedia artist. He creates many films and multimedia projects, sometimes working with a team. He is especially known for his short films and multimedia art.

About His Life
Exhibitions
Stage Works
Filmography
Awards and Honors
See also

About His Life

Early Life and First Films

Virgil Widrich grew up in Salzburg, Austria, in a very old house. His neighbors included famous writer Peter Handke and film director Wim Wenders. He started making films very young. At 13, he got his first camera, a Super-8. In 1980, he made three films: My Homelife, Gebratenes Fleisch, and 3 mal Ulf. After that, he made an animated cartoon called Auch Farbe kann träumen.

When he was 15, he made Monster in Salzburg. For this film, he worked with actors for the first time. He used a special technique called stop-motion to create the monster. In 1983, he began his first full-length movie, Vom Geist der Zeit (Spirit of Time). It took him 14 months to finish. To pay for his films, he worked as an extra and props manager at the Salzburg Festival. In 1984, he started learning about computers and even programmed some simple games.

Film Career and New Paths

After high school, Virgil Widrich briefly attended the Vienna Film Academy. He left to work on a science fiction film script, but that film was never made. In 1987, he started a film company called Classic Films. Its goal was to share artistic movies. Later, he worked as an assistant to John Bailey, a camera expert and director. In 1990, he went to Hollywood to work with Bailey.

After selling his company in 1991, Widrich became very interested in how computers could be used for art. He also helped create a new festival for Austrian film called Diagonale in 1993. He later helped build film databases and an interactive CD-ROM.

Success with Short Films

In 1997, Widrich focused on making his own films again. He made the short film "tx-transform," which was very successful. He also filmed Heller als der Mond ("Brighter than the Moon") in 1999. His next project, Copy Shop, became one of his most famous. After it came out in 2001, it won 35 awards and was even nominated for an Oscar. It was shown at over 200 film festivals.

His next short film, Fast Film, was also a big hit. It won 36 international awards and was shown at over 300 film festivals. In 2001, he started his own company, checkpointmedia AG, and continued to make films with Virgil Widrich Film- und Multimediaproduktionen G.m.b.H. He also helped start another company, Amour Fou Film, to support art films by new directors.

Teaching and Family Life

From 2007 to 2010, Virgil Widrich was a professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He taught a class called "digital arts." Since 2010, he has been the main professor for the "Art & Science" Master's program.

Virgil Widrich has three sons with film director Anja Salomonowitz. One of his sons, Oskar Salomonowitz, who was born in 2008 and acted in the film "This Movie is a Gift," sadly died in an accident in 2020.

Exhibitions

Virgil Widrich has created many art installations and helped organize exhibitions:

2006: He made computer-animated art for the Mozarthaus Vienna.
2008: 13 works by him and his students were shown at "Essence08" in the Museum für angewandte Kunst Wien.
2009: He was the art director for "Linz. City in Luck" at the Nordico museum.
2009: "Alias in Wonderland" was a project with his students at the Museumsquartier in Vienna.
2009: 10 works by his students were shown at "Essence09."
2010: 15 works by his students were shown at "Essence10" in the Vienna Künstlerhaus.
2010: Widrich was the art director for the "90 Jahre Salzburger Festspiele" exhibition at the Salzburg Museum.
2011: He was the art director for "parameter{world}" at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
2012: Works by his students were shown at "Essence12" in the Vienna Künstlerhaus.
2013: He directed "Crucial Experiments" for Vienna Art Week.
2014: 2 works by his students were shown at "Essence14" in the Vienna Künstlerhaus.
2015: "Parallaxis" was a media installation for an exhibition at Leopold Museum.
2016: He presented "[dis]placement – Information through Sound."
2017: "Circuit Training" was held in Vienna.
2017: An exhibition and look back at his films, "analog_digital," was held at METRO Kinokulturhaus.
2017: He contributed to "Panzerschrank Potemkin" at Vienna Design Week.
2017: He helped create "Aesthetics of change" at the MAK, Vienna.
2018: He helped create "Sound of Music World" in Salzburg.
2018: He contributed "Voyage around my room" at Vienna Design Week.

Stage Works

2012: He helped create the idea, stage, visuals, and film projections for "New Angels." This show premiered in Luxembourg.

Filmography

Here are some of the films Virgil Widrich has made:

1980: My Homelife (6 mins.) – A documentary about an old house.
1980: Gebratenes Fleisch (11 mins.) – A crime thriller.
1980: 3 mal Ulf (12 mins.) – A documentary about Arnulf Komposch.
1981: Auch Farbe kann träumen (12 mins.) – An animated film about a worm and a man escaping pollution.
1982: Monster in Salzburg (12 mins.) – An animated film where a monster causes trouble in Salzburg.
1983-85: Vom Geist der Zeit (112 mins.) – A mix of many different film styles.
1998: tx-transform (5 mins.) – An experimental animated film with interesting techniques.
2000: Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon) (88 mins.) – A comedy about being new in Vienna.
2001: Copy Shop (12 mins.) – A man copies himself until copies fill the world.
2001: LinksRechts (4 mins.) – Interviews about "left and right" in film and politics.
2003: Fast Film (14 mins.) – An animated film using pieces of other films to tell a chase story.
2010: make/real (5 mins.) – A film made from old footage for an exhibition about robots.
2011: warning triangle (6 mins.) – A film made from old footage for an exhibition about cars.
2015: back track (7 mins.) – A 3D film made from old footage.
2016: Vienna table trip (1 min. 22 sec.) – An animated film made from old footage.
2016: Night of a 1000 Hours (feature film).
2018: Icon Island (70 mins.) – A live show with pictures and sounds.
2018: Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel (3 min. 45 sek.) – A music video.
2018: Light Matter (5 mins.) – An experimental film.
2019: tx-reverse (5 mins.) – An experimental film.

Since 2011, he has been working on an animated film called "Micromeo."

Awards and Honors

Virgil Widrich's work has won over 290 international awards!

For Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon) (2000)

Scriptwriting prize from the City of Salzburg for the best script (1997).
Jean Carment Award for Lars Rudolph.
Laser Vidéo Titres Award.

For Copy Shop (2001)

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.
Best Music and Sound Design at Clermont-Ferrand.
Best Experimental Short at Toronto International Short Film Festival.
Kodak Award – Jury's choice for short film.
Jury Prize at IMAGO 2001.
Silberne Taube at Leipzig International Film Festival.
Best Short film at Lleida inCurt.
Best Experimental at Shorts International Film Festival New York.
1st Comunidad de Madrid Award – Best Film.
Best Short film at Barcelona L'alternativa 01.
Jury Prize at Leuven Kort International Short Film Festival.
Best Of Festival at Boston Underground Film Festival.
Prix des télévisions européennes at Brussels Festival.
Special Prize at Hiroshima International Animation Festival.
Best Experimental Film at Thessaloniki Panorama.
Jury's special prize at Tehran International Animation Festival.

For Fast Film (2003)

Official selection at Festival de Cannes (nomination).
Best Animated Short at Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto.
Grand Prix for Animation at Vila do Conde, Portugal.
Best Experimental Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival.
Audience Award at Bearded Child Film Festival.
Most Imaginative Film at Odense Film Festival.
High Risk Award at Fantoche.
Best Experimental Film at Panorama of Independent Film & Video Makers.
Most innovative short at Leipzig International Festival.
Grand Prix at Uppsala Short Film Festival.
Premio de la Comunidad de Madrid a la Mejor Película.
Onda Curta, 2nd prize and jury's special mention at Cinanima Portugal.
Innova Award at Animadrid, Spain.
Film Critics Award at Animafest Zagreb.
ASIFA Korea Prize for best Experimental SICAF.
Cartoon d'or – best animated cartoon.
Part of the Animation Show of Shows.

For Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel (2018)

Mindfield Film Festival – Los Angeles – Best Music Video: Platinum Award.
UNDO Divergent Film Awards – Arlington – Best Music Video.
Mindfield Film Festival – Albuquerque – Best Music Video: Platinum Award.
EIFA – European Independent Film Award – Paris – Best Music Video – Bronze Award.
Snowdance Film Awards – Los Angeles – Best Visual VX.
Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase – Best International Music Video.
NYC Indie Film Awards – Best Music Video.
Hollywood Sun Awards – Best Music Video.
Cosmic Film Festival – Florida – Best Music Video.
Rosarito International Film Festival – Los Angeles – Best Music Video.
Eurasia International Monthly Film Festival – Moskau – Best Music Video.
Royal Wolf Film Awards – Los Angeles – Winner: Best FX, Best Director, Best Music Video: Gold Award.
Top Indie Film Awards – Online Festival – Winner: Best director, Best FX.
Enginuity Film Awards – Shepherdstown – Winner: Best New Media Director.
West Wing Film Competition – Los Angeles – Music Video: 1st Place Winner.
Lake View International Film Festival – Punjab – May 2018 Best Music Video of the Month.
Jaipur International Film Festival – JIFF – Top 2nd Music Video/Song.
LA Edge Film Awards – Los Angeles – Best Music Video, Best Editing, Best Visual FX.
Silicon Beach Film Festival – Los Angeles – Best Music Video.
Berlin Flash Film Festival – Monthly category winner April 2018 – Music Video.
SFAAF – South Film and Arts Academy Festival – Chile – Winner: best fx in a short film.
Mediterranean Film Festival (MedFF) – Siracusa, Italien – Music Video Competition: Best Music Video.

For checkpointmedia

September 2006: National Award for the “Mozarthouse Vienna” and for the “Visitor Center of the Austrian Parliament.”