Mara Mattuschka (born 22 May 1959) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n ''

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

'' filmmaker.

Life

Mattuschka was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in 1959. At the age of 17, in 1976, she moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to study

Ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

and

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. In 1983, she entered

Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Grand ...

's masterclass in animation and painting at the

University of Applied Arts Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...

and started making her first short films. Her graduation film ''Der Einzug des Rokoko ins Inselreich der Huzis'' caused a small scandal at the university in 1989, because it mixed animation, theatre, performance, music and fine arts. She graduated in 1990. From 1997 until 2001 she taught arts at

Braunschweig University of Art The Braunschweig University of Art (Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, HBK) is the second largest College of Fine Arts in Germany. History The history goes back to the “Zeichnen-Instithut” (Drawing Institute) founded by the Brun ...

in Germany. She also taught at

University of Art and Design Linz The University of Art and Design Linz (common short form University of Arts Linz) is one of four universities in Linz, Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its ca ...

. In the 2000s she started working with the dance ensemble Liquid Loft and Chris Haring. Her first feature film was made in 2012. In 2006, the film festival

Vienna Independent Shorts Vienna Shorts (formerly known as VIS Vienna Independent Shorts) is an international short film festival held annually in May in Vienna. It is the largest short film festival in Austria. History Vienna Independent Shorts was held in 2004 for t ...

dedicated a retrospective to her work.

Filmarchiv Austria The Filmarchiv Austria ("Austrian Film Archive") is an organisation for the discovery, reconstruction and preservation of Austrian film record material: films themselves, literature about film and cinema, or film-related periodicals. With over 260, ...

showed a retrospective of her work for her 60th birthday in 2019. She lives in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Style

In most of her films, she appears herself as her alter ego "Mimi Minus" and in various other identities.

Filmography

* ''Nabelfabel'' (1984) * ''Kugelkopf'' (1985) * ''Der Untergang der Titania'' (1985) * ''Cerolax II'' (1985) * ''Die Schule der Ausschweifung'' (1986) * ''Parasympathica'' (1986) * ''Pascal - Gödel'' (1986) * ''Kaiser Schnitt'' (1986) * ''Es hat mich sehr gefreut'' (1987) * ''Les Miserables'' (1987) * ''Der Einzug des Rokoko ins Inselreich der Huzis'' (1989) * ''Loading Ludwig'' (1989, with Michael Petrov) * ''Der Schöne, die Biest'' (1993) * ''S. O. S. Extraterrestria'' (1993) * ''Suvlaki ist Babylon: Komm, iss mit mir'' (1995) * ''Unternehmen Arschmaschine'' (1997, with Gabriele Szekatsch) * ''Plasma'' (2004) * Legal Errorist (2005, with Chris Haring) * ''Königin der Nacht (Mozart Minute 20)'' (2006) * ''Part Time Heroes'' (2007, with Chris Haring) * ''Running Sushi'' (2008, with Chris Haring) * ''Burning Palace'' (2009, with Chris Haring) * ''Ovid Tum'' (2012, with Reinhard Jud) * ''Perfect Garden'' (2013) * ''Phaidros'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattuschka, Mara 1959 births Animated film directors Austrian women film directors Austrian experimental filmmakers Living people Film people from Vienna Academic staff of the Braunschweig University of Art Bulgarian emigrants to Austria