The Magic of Laxenburg

Der Stoff, aus dem Träume sind

April 2019 •German

How to Cook Your Life

May 2007 •English

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

Austria: The Land of Music

September 2001 •English

Begin your tour of magical Austria in Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart that echoes with the sound of music. Meet an archduke from the Hapsburg dynasty and enjoy regional food and drink at a country tavern. Enjoy the Tyrolean atmosphere of Innsbruck and the magnificent scenery of Heiligenblut. Tour an armor museum in Graz and stroll through the Old Town's arcaded courtyards. Watch famous Lipizzaner horses perform, then continue on to the famed Vienna Boys Choir, inspect a porcelain factory, and examine art in an auction house. Marvel at the Schoenbrunn Palace, then travel down the Danube to take in the wine harvest.

Tales from the Royal Wardrobe

July 2014 •English

Today, few people's clothes attract as much attention as the royal family, but this is not a modern-day paparazzi-inspired obsession. Historian Dr. Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, reveals that it has always been this way. Exploring the royal wardrobes of our kings and queens over the last four hundred years, Lucy shows this isn't just a public fascination, but an important and powerful message from the monarchs. From Elizabeth I to the present Queen Elizabeth II, Lucy explains how the royal wardrobe's significance goes far beyond the cut and color of the clothing. Royal fashion is, and has always been, regarded as a very personal statement to reflect their power over the reign. Most kings and queens have carefully choreographed every aspect of their wardrobe; for those who have not, there have sometimes been calamitous consequences. As much today as in the past, royal fashion is as much about politics as it is about elegant attire.

Wall of Silence

January 1994 •German

In the small town of Rechnitz a terrible crime against humanity was performed during the holocaust. Until now, no-one dares to talk about it.

Sisi... und ich erzähle euch die Wahrheit

October 2012 •German

September 11, 1898: The imperial family’s personal physician, Dr. Herman Widerhofer, is deeply shocked by the news that an anarchist has assassinated Empress Elisabeth in Geneva. He then shuts himself up in his private rooms and recalls the empress’ fateful life. We learn the truth about Elisabeth, as the doctor knew more about her than anyone else.

In the Basement

September 2014 •German

Filmmaker Ulrich Seidl explores of the dark underside of the human psyche by entering Austrian basements fitted out as private domains for secrets and fetishes.

Citizen Krone, Austria between the Lines

November 2002 •German

This film journeys deep into the heart of Austria’s favorite daily newspaper, the Kronen Zeitung, the most widely-read paper per capita in the world. The “Krone’s” 2.7 million readers represent 43% of the Austrian press market. A reflection of the Austrian soul, this newspaper serves as a prism through which we can understand the rise of the populist Right in this country and examine the dangerous flirtation between media and politics.

Queen Elizabeth II: Her Glorious Reign

October 2022 •English

Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. While her service to her country is legendary, she has become a figure of strength, endurance, and dignity the world over and indeed we all feel connected to her. Through triumph, loss, scandal, and celebration, witness the story of how a young Princess became Queen to the people of the world.

Johanna Dohnal - Visionary of Feminism

February 2020 •German

Johanna Dohnal, whose political career spans three decades, was one of the very first explicitly feminist politicians in Europe. As a member of the Austrian socialist government and the first Austrian minister for Women’s Affairs from 1990 to 1994, Dohnal was responsible for founding Austria’s first women’s refuge as well as criminalizing of marital rape. Yet her legacy remains yet to be discovered and re-examined. DIE DOHNAL makes a first step, and it makes Dohnal come alive.

War in Vienna

January 1989 •German

A film about news, life and death. Before the media became so prevalent, we were concerned about our immediate neighborhood. At the end of the day, news was the subject of our conversations, but now it's possible to converse with someone at the other end of the globe. We do it all the time. It's simple. The world has become one big neighborhood. Now Headline News has replaced the back fence. That's the news service of the eigthies. It's a new idea and a new approach.

Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King

April 2016 •English

Documentary telling the inside story of the plans by Louis Mountbatten to maneuver his nephew and heir to the Greek throne, Philip, into marrying the future queen Princess Elizabeth and the tensions that that unleashed.

After Mein Kampf?

August 1961 •English

By combining actual footage with reenactments, this film offers both a documentary and fictional account of the life of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood in Vienna, through the rise of the Third Reich, to his final act of suicide in the waning days of WWII. The film also provides considerable, and often shocking, detail of the atrocities enacted by the Nazi regime under Hitler's command.

Rhin et Danube

January 1948 •English

A documentary produced by the French armed forces which chronicles the way of France’s “1ere armée” in the second world war from the days it first crossed the Rhine in March of 1945, through the liberation of a POW-camp in Swabia, until the forces reached the Danube and the Alps at the end of the war and the day French troops marched in the victory parade in Berlin.

The First World War

November 1934 •English

Produced by the Fox Movietone News arm of Fox Film Corporation and based on the book by Lawrence Stallings, this expanded newsreel, using stock-and-archive footage, tells the story of World War I from inception to conclusion. Alternating with scenes of trench warfare and intimate glimpses of European royalty at home, and scenes of conflict at sea combined with sequences of films from the secret archives of many of the involved nations.

Christmas on the Danube

December 2013 •English

This documentary visits cities and towns and captures stunning landscapes along Europe's majestic Danube at Christmastime. Locations covered include Passau, Germany; Salzburg, Oberndorf, the Wachau Valley, and Vienna in Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Budapest, Hungary. Along the way the viewer learns relevant history.

State of the Nation

August 2002 •German

Four film-makers embark on a cinematic survey of Austria, documenting the political and social state of the nation and its people. An eye-opening experience. In the wake of the 1999 elections, four filmmakers decided to go out with cameras in hand and gauge the mood of their countrymen, who had made Jörg Haider's FPO party the second most powerful in Austria. What they found was a country apparently "like any other" , filled with nice ordinary people. Who feel perfectly comfortable dreaming of a possible future without foreigners, or speaking with equanimity about the old days of the Third Reich.

Lucy Worsley's Royal Photo Album

May 2020 •English

Lucy Worsley tells the story of the royal photograph, showing how the royal family worked with generations of photographers to create images that reinvented the British monarchy.

50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus

August 2013 •English

In the spring of 1939, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus embarked on a risky and unlikely mission. Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, they rescued 50 Jewish children from Vienna and brought them to the United States.

Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

February 2016 •English

A dramatisation based on the exchange of letters between Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin Elizabeth I, detailing the hatred and obsession in their bitter rivalry. Expert historians examine and interpret the royals' motives for the animosity that lasted more than two decades, and which threatened to tear apart the reigning monarch and her kingdom.