Entertainment
Manuel Wetscher's debut feature 'Eklipse' premieres at Venice Film Festival
The Austrian director's autobiographical drama examines 1990s AIDS stigma and family secrecy in an alpine setting.
The short version
- Austrian director Manuel Wetscher's debut feature film 'Eklipse' is set to hold its world premiere in the Horizons section of the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5.
- The movie draws from Wetscher's childhood experience of learning years later that his father died from AIDS-related complications in 1993.
- Set in the 1990s on an Austrian alpine dairy farm, the narrative follows two teenage boys coping with family secrets and social stigma.
Key facts
- Austrian director Manuel Wetscher's feature directorial debut, 'Eklipse', is scheduled to have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the 83rd Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- The film stars Moritz Hohlrieder as Tomy, Finley Brown as Chris, and Hannes Perkmann as the uncle, with additional performances by Lenz Moretti, Lisa Schützenberger, and Barbara Romaner.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- The plot is set on a 1990s Austrian alpine dairy farm and depicts the tension and prejudice that emerge when a teenager's father is hospitalized with AIDS.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- Wetscher based the narrative partly on his own life, having learned at age 17 that his father died in 1993 of Kaposi's sarcoma resulting from AIDS after his family initially concealed the cause of death.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- The film was co-written by Bernhard Jarosch, with cinematography by Simone Hart and editing by Anna Kirst.[The Hollywood Reporter]
- 'Eklipse' is produced by Austria's Eutopiafilm and Italy's Albolina Film, with international sales managed by Films Boutique.[The Hollywood Reporter]
Sources
- ‘Eklipse’ Mixes the Autobiographical and Fictional to Explore AIDS Taboos and Fear of Social ExclusionThe Hollywood Reporter metered