Octopus Alarm

Homemad(e)

September 2001 •German

Marc Aurel-Straße in Vienna: The last surviving Jewish textile merchant in the former textile district, the Iranian hotel proprietor and the Café Salzgries and its regulars. Between the summer of 1999 and spring 2000, Ruth Beckermann undertook a series of small journeys on and around her own doorstep and investigated her local area with the help of a film crew. This documentary film also gives an insight into the political changes when a far right Party joined the Government coalition in Austria.

We Feed the World

September 2005 •German

A documentary that exposes the shocking truths behind industrial food production and food wastage, focusing on fishing, livestock and crop farming. A must-see for anyone interested in the true cost of the food on their plate.

The Codes of Gender

October 2010 •English

Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.

Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein

December 1970 •English

In this documentary portrait prepared for the anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday, Leonard Bernstein illustrates his analysis with excerpts from his performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major and the Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony.

The Standstill

February 2024 •German

In an observation over four seasons THE STANDSTILL shows Vienna and its surroundings along with encounters with people during and after the Corona crisis. The film tells of the immediate and also the long-term effects, which can only be evaluated and classified in the future.

Who I Am Not

March 2023 •English

What makes a male, and what makes a female? Where do we draw the line, and does it really matter? Sharon-Rose Khumalo, a South African beauty queen, plunges into an identity crisis after finding out she is intersex. In her quest to deal with gender dysphoria, she needs the guidance of somebody just like her. The only person who will help is Dimakatso Sebidi, a masculine presenting intersex activist, who turns out to be her complete opposite. The two parallel but divergent stories offer an intimate look at the struggle of living in a male-female world, when you are both or neither. For the first time in a creative documentary, Who I Am Not gives a voice to the long ignored and mostly silent two percent of the world's population: the intersex community.

Das mit dem Älterwerden

June 2016 •German

Facebook is for “old people” and baggy pants are almost vintage. We are the generation that now has to learn to fit in the shoes of grown-ups. We are the generation "not-as-young-as-we-thought-we-were" - Y. This documentary tells our journey through the different generations and which milestones our lives hold from the viewpoint of a modern "social and connected" society. We met people of the generations before and after us, to find out what matters to them, what unites them and also divides them. We talked about communication, family, work and aging. We learned about ways of life, dreams and goals. This isn’t just a movie about generations. This is a movie about finding one’s place. This is a movie about growing up, growing old and everything in between. This is a movie about life.

Caravan

April 2024 •English

The four Afghan refugees who have applied for asylum in Austria strike up the song, “The caravan moves on” again and again. Encouraged by the journalist Lucy Ashton to record their lives on their smartphone cameras as a video diary, the friends film their precarious daily routine between visits to authorities, small jobs, and changing accommodations. Yet even when hope is lost, one certainty remains: the power of friendship.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

June 2018 •English

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.

A Normal Girl

March 2019 •English

Pidgeon Pagonis, a lead activist and educator from the intersex community, crusades for body autonomy and the freedom to choose one’s own path.

Wiener Barock - Der Architekt dreier Kaiser

March 2024 •French

Kino Wien Film

November 2018 •German

A journey through Viennese cinemas, from the first showings by the brothers Lumière to modern megaplexes.

Emile – Erinnerungen eines Vertriebenen

March 2023 •German

Der Weg zu Dir

February 2014 •German

A movie about intersexuality

In the Image of God

November 2020 •Italian

The fourth generation in his family to be born intersex, Jewish Rabbi Levi was assigned the female gender at birth and grew up thinking he was sick and defective. "In the Image of God" tells the story of his struggles and transitions, culminating today in a life as a religious leader and an LGBTQI+ activist living happily in Los Angeles with his wife.

Every Body

June 2023 •English

Three intersex individuals overcame shame, secrecy and unauthorized surgery throughout their childhoods to enjoy successful adulthoods, choosing to ignore medical advice to conceal their bodies and coming out as who they truly are.

In the Realm of Hormones: Myth and Reality

June 2023 •German

Hormones – without them, nothing would work in our body: the messenger substances control our physical and mental state. New studies show how complex the connection between hormones, feelings and behavior really is. Surprisingly, the body's own hormone production is also apparently influenced by a person's behavior.

Der Stoff, aus dem Träume sind

April 2019 •German

Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder

October 2017 •German

A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”

Manifesting the Mind: Footprints of the Shaman

January 2009 •English

In these interviews, Dennis McKenna, Alex Grey, Rick Strassman, and other champions of psychedelics share their views on the value of psychedelic medicine, and its neglect in Western society.