Birgit Minichmayr (born 3 April 1977) is an Austrian 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 ...

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 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 ...

. For her work in Maren Ade's film

Everyone Else ''Everyone Else'' (german: Alle Anderen) is a 2009 German romantic drama film written and directed by Maren Ade. The film was awarded with the Silver Bear at the 59th Berlin Film Festival. Plot Gitti and Chris are a young German couple on vacat ...

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 cho ...

at 59th Berlin International Film Festival. 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 commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

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

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

) since 1956. She worked with several major European directors including Michael Haneke, Tom Tykwer and Jessica Hausner.

Career

Minichmayr had her first break with the Burgtheater 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 ...

, where she appeared in numerous plays, including ''Der Reigen'' by Arthur Schnitzler (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 natio ...

(staging by Declan Donnellan) and ''Der Färber und sein Zwillingsbruder'' by Johann Nestroy (staged by Karlheinz Hackl). She made her cinema debut in 2000 as Barbara Brecht in Jan Schütte's ''

Abschied ''Farewell'' (German: ''Abschied'') is a 1930 German comedy drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Brigitte Horney, Aribert Mog and Emilia Unda. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by t ...

'', playing alongside Josef Bierbichler and Monica Bleibtreu. In 2000, Minichmayr appeared in

Peter Sämann Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

's television thriller (in the '' Tatort'' series), "Böses Blut". She was awarded the

n Nestroy Prize for "Best Young Talent" in 2000. In 2006 she played

Mizzi Kasper Mizzi is a surname of Maltese origin. It may refer to: As a surname *Amy Mizzi (born 1983), Australian actress * Bice Mizzi (1899–1985), Maltese pianist * Dennis Mizzi (born 1964), former Maltese professional footballer *Enrico Mizzi (1885–1950 ...

, 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 a ...

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

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and Vienna. She speaks English and has acted in several international and English language productions. Among the directors she worked with were István Szabó, Götz Spielmann, Tom Tykwer, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Robert Dornhelm, and Doris Dörrie. She is also an accomplished vocalist, and has been recorded several times, though she has always made acting her primary focus. At the 59th Berlin International Film Festival 2009 Minichmayr was awarded the

for her performance in Maren Ade's ''Alle Anderen'' (

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

* 2010: German Film Awards, Nomination Best Actress for

* 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