Birgit Minichmayr (born 3 April 1977) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

actress born in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

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 ...

. She studied drama at the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Lehr ...

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

. For her work in

Maren Ade Maren Ade (; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she ...

's film Everyone Else she won

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

59th Berlin International Film Festival The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s '' The International'', screened out of competition. Costa-Gavras's immigrant drama '' Eden Is West'' ser ...

. She is the only Austrian actress to win this award in history of the festival and the first Austrian actress to win best actress award at a major European film festival (

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) since 1956. She worked with several major European directors including

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, G ...

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The St ...

and

Jessica Hausner Jessica Hausner (born 6 October 1972) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. She received international attention in 2001 when her film ''Lovely Rita'', a portrait of a young girl who feels confined by family constraints, was screened in ...

Career

Minichmayr had her first break with the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

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

, where she appeared in numerous plays, including ''Der Reigen'' by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

(staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf), ''Troilus and Cressida'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(staging by

Declan Donnellan Declan Michael Martin Donnellan (born 4 August 1953) is an English film/stage director and author. He co-founded the Cheek by Jowl theatre company with Nick Ormerod in 1981. In addition to his Cheek by Jowl productions, Donnellan has made theat ...

) and ''Der Färber und sein Zwillingsbruder'' by

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...

(staged by

Karlheinz Hackl Karlheinz Hackl (16 May 1949 – 1 June 2014) was an Austrian actor and theater director whose varied career included theater, television, film and cabaret performances as well as musical performances (singing). Biography Hackl was born and was ...

). She made her cinema debut in 2000 as Barbara Brecht in

Jan Schütte Jan Schütte (born 26 June 1957) is a German film director and screenwriter. He has directed twelve films since 1982. His film '' The Farewell'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. After graduating fr ...

's '' Abschied'', playing alongside

Josef Bierbichler Josef Bierbichler (born 26 April 1948) is a German actor. Filmography * 1976: '' Heart of Glass'' – director: Werner Herzog * 1976: ''Die Atlantikschwimmer'' * 1977: '' Bierkampf'' – director: Herbert Achternbusch * 1977: ''Servus Bayern'' ...

and

Monica Bleibtreu Monica Bleibtreu (; May 4, 1944 – May 13, 2009) was an Austrian actress and screenwriter, best known in the German-speaking world for her German film, television and stage roles. Life and career Bleibtreu was born in Vienna, Austria, the da ...

. In 2000, Minichmayr appeared in Peter Sämann's television thriller (in the ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

'' series), "Böses Blut". She was awarded the

n Nestroy Prize for "Best Young Talent" in 2000. In 2006 she played Mizzi Kasper, one of the lovers from Crownprince Rudolf in the movie '. A year later, Minichmayr played the fool in

Luc Bondy Luc Bondy (17 July 1948 – 28 November 2015) was a Swiss theatre and film director. Life and career upright=1.3, '' Charlotte Salomon'' at the Salzburg Festival 2014 Trained in Paris with the theatre teacher Jacques Lecoq, he received a job ...

's acclaimed staging of Shakespeare's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', always at the Burgtheater. Minichmayr currently lives in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and Vienna. She speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and has acted in several international and English language productions. Among the directors she worked with were

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since the la ...

Götz Spielmann Götz Spielmann (born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian director and scriptwriter. Life and career Spielmann was born in Wels, Austria, and grew up in Vienna. After High School, he lived in Paris for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied fi ...

Oliver Hirschbiegel Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 29 December 1957) is a German film director. His works include ''Das Experiment'' and the Oscar-nominated '' Downfall''. Life and career Hirschbiegel was born in Hamburg, Germany. A Waldorf graduate, Hirschbiegel stud ...

Robert Dornhelm Robert Dornhelm (born 17 December 1947 in Temesvár, Romania) is an Austrian film and television director. Biography Dornhelm is of Jewish descent. He has worked on numerous television programmes and has also released such movies as ''Echo Pa ...

, and

Doris Dörrie Doris Dörrie (; born 26 May 1955) is a German film director, producer and author. Biography Born in Hanover, Dörrie completed her secondary education there in 1973. The same year, she began a two-year attendance in film studies in the drama de ...

. She is also an accomplished vocalist, and has been recorded several times, though she has always made acting her primary focus. At the

2009 Minichmayr was awarded the

for her performance in

's ''Alle Anderen'' ( Everyone Else).

Filmography

Awards

* 2000: Nestroy Prize for Best Young Talent * 2004/2009: Nestroy Prize for Best Actress * 2009: 59th Berlin International Film Festival, Best Actress for Everyone Else * 2010: German Film Awards, Nomination Best Actress for Everyone Else * 2015: Blow-Up International Arthouse Film Festival, Nomination for Best Actress - Monica Vitti Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minichmayr, Birgit Austrian film actresses 1977 births Actors from Linz Living people Shakespearean actresses Austrian stage actresses Silver Bear for Best Actress winners 21st-century Austrian actresses 21st-century Austrian women singers Austrian television actresses