BATTLEFIELD
Yannis Lenz | Austria 2019 | 8 Min. | OmeU
Austrian Expressionist Oskar Kokoschka once said, “Weeds are nature’s opposition to the reign of gardeners.” Today, this quote can be appropriated to describe life inside a military base in Austria. Instead of preparing for war and bloody battles, soldiers are meticulously tending gardens. The grass-green battlefield gets a military buzz cut. Yet still, some of the most potent weapons are powerless in the fight against the weeds.
BATTLEFIELD glances into an imaginary future, in which military camps have transformed into open-air museums, and tanks are nothing but relics. They stand in silence but admonishing. Some of them still work.
Director: Jannis Lenz
Production: David Bohun, Sonja Lenz
Cinematography: Jakob Fuhr
Sound: Benedikt Palier, Joseph Nikolussi, Rudolf Pototschnig
Editor: Jannis Lenz
Color Grading: Klaus Prammer
Graphics: Matthias Van Baaren
Screenings
Sarajevo International Film Festival; Festival du Nouveau Cinema Montreal; Encounters- Bristol International Film Festival; Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film; Love & Anarchy- Helsinki International Film Festival; Go Short! International Film Festival Nijmegen; Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de La Plata FestiFreak; VIS Vienna Shorts; dotdotdot Open Air Short Film Festival; Sao Paulo International Film Festival; Orvieto Cinema Fest; Braunschweig International Film Festival; Uşak International Short Film Festival; Silk Road International Film Festival
Biography
Jannis Lenz studies Directing in the Masterclass of Jessica Hausner at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where he also worked as an assistant for Michael Haneke. He got selected for Berlinale Talents, received the START Scholarship for Cinematic Art by the Austrian Ministry of Culture, the Distinction of the Society of Fine Artists Austria and is an official member of the European Film Academy.
