Klaus Händl (born September 17, 1969) is an Austrian actor, writer and director.

Biography

Händl was born in

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, Austria. He started his theater career as an actor in Vienna's Schauspielhaus. His first theatrical production, which he also directed, was premiered in the Styrian autumn festival ''Steirischer Herbst'' at

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. He has also appeared in several films. As a director, he made the feature films ''März'' in 2008, and '' Tomcat'' in 2016, both of which were credited to Händl Klaus. He is a theater and film professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He lives in Vienna,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and in Port am Bielersee,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Works

* 1994: ''Legenden. 35 Prosastücke''. Droschl Literaturverlag Graz * 1995: ''Satz Bäurin. Klagenfurter Texte''.

Piper Verlag Piper Verlag is a German publisher based in Munich, printing both fiction and non-fiction works. It currently prints over 200 new paperback titles per year. Authors published by the company include Andreas von Bülow and Sara Paretsky. It is ow ...

* 1996: ''Kleine Vogelkunde''. Radio play. ORF * 2001: ''Ich ersehne die Alpen; So entstehen die Seen''. Play.

Rowohlt Verlag Rowohlt Verlag is a German publishing house based in Hamburg, with offices in Reinbek and Berlin. It has been part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group since 1982. The company has been dissolved and restarted twice since its creation in 1908. Hi ...

* 2002: ''Häftling von Mab''. Libretto; music: Eduard Demetz, Theater of Tyrol * 2006: ''Dunkel lockende Welt''. Play. Kammerspiele of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Theater Biel-Solothurn in Switzerland,

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 ...

of Vienna.

* 2006: ''Vom Mond''. Libretto. State Theater of Tyrol * 2006: ''Stücke''. Theater plays. Droschl Literaturverlag Graz * 2007: ''Wilde – Der Mann mit den traurigen Augen''. Theater Basel Kleine Bühne * 2008: ''Dunkel lockende Welt''. State Theater of Tyrol * 2008: ''März''. Feature film * 2016: '' Tomcat (Kater)''. Feature film * 2016: ''Koma''. Opera libretto, music by Georg Friedrich Haas). Premiere at the Schwetzingen Festival 2016 * 2017: '' Der Mieter''. Opera libretto, music by Arnulf Herrmann. Premiere at the Oper Frankfurt on 12 November 2017. * 2018: '' Lunea''. Opera libretto, music by Heinz Holliger. Premiere at the Opernhaus Zürich on 4 March 2018. * 2019: '' Les Bienveillantes''. Opera libretto. Opera Vlaanderen.

Awards

In 1996 Händl Klaus received an award for the Radio Play of the Year from the Austrian Broadcasting Service ORF. Other awards include the Rauriser Literaturpreis (Austria) and the Robert-Walser-Preis (Germany). * 1995: Robert-Walser-Preis, Rauris Literature Prize * 1996: ORF-Hörspielpreis "Radio Play of the Year" * 2002: Subsidy of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin * 2002: Hermann-Lenz-Stipendium (subsidy) * 2004: Nestroy Theatre Prize nomination as best young playwright * 2005: Theater prize of the Cultural Circle of the German Economy * 2006: ''Playwright of the Year'' by the magazine ''Theater heute'' ("Theater Today") * 2007: Literature subsidies of Tyrol, Welti Dramatikerpreis of the city of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

for playwrights, Feldkircher Lyrikpreis * 2008: Silver Leopard for the best debut feature at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

, for the movie ''März'' * 2008: Culture Award of the city of

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

* 2008: Special Award of the Jury at the Sarajevo Film Festival for the movie ''März'' * 2008: Berner Filmpreis for the movie ''März'' * 2016: Teddy Award for the movie '' Tomcat (Kater)''

External links

* *
Die Dinge, sind verschoben
essay by Alexander Kerlin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Handl, Klaus 1969 births Living people Austrian male stage actors German-language writers Austrian film directors Austrian gay writers Austrian gay actors 21st-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Austrian male writers Austrian male television actors Austrian male film actors Austrian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Gay dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Tyrol (federal state)