You are using an unsupported browser, so some features may not work. Please upgrade to a modern browser
Ihr Webbrowser ist veraltet und wird leider nicht in vollem Umfang unterstützt.

Breathing life into stone

DE 2018, 79 min, Katinka Zeuner

A circus wagon and a shipping container serve as stonemason Michael Spengler’s workshop. It is here that he receives people in mourning. Together they design headstones that tell of the deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Neustadt have lost their two-year-old son. Through their dialogue with Michael they find the words to express their emotions, words that become form and substance—their child’s breath is to be represented in a fragile limestone. Hardburg Stolle is a woman of few words, through Michael’s guidance she dauntlessly swings the hammer that splits a boulder and feels a sense of strength that had been long buried. The Jacob family searches for the essence of their grandfather’s life: lover of nature, bon vivant, patriarch. What should an object that encapsulates him look like? Michael approaches the material and the people with great sensitivity and accompanies each family on a process that often takes months, one decision at a time.

The film tells the story of this difficult and intimate process and shows how working on the stone makes death concrete in the truest sense of the word. As the stone takes on its form, the families discover a new relationship with the deceased—and to life.

festivals

DOK Leipzig 2018, DE | Achtung Berlin Film Festival 2019, DE

awards

ver.di Award (DOK Leipzig 2018, DE) | Honorable Mention Goethe-Institute (DOK Leipzig 2018, DE) | Ecumenical Award (Achtung Berlin Film Festival 2019, DE)

pictures

download

Press Kit

QUEERFILMNACHT

Demnächst im Kino

JULI 2025

DRAMA QUEENS 
ein Film von Alexis Langlois, OmdU

Glitter, Pop aus dem Pariser Underground

Mi 09. Juli 20:40 KIZ Royal Kino, Graz
Mo 14. Juli 20.00 Votivkino, Wien
Do 17. Juli, 21.00 Cinema Paradiso, Baden
Mi 23. Juli 20.00 Cinematograph, Innsbruck
Do 24. Juli 20.15 Volkskino Klagenfurt

AUGUST 2025

VIET UND NAM OmdU
ein Film von Truong Minh Quý

Ein poetischer Liebesreigen in Vietnam

Mi 13. August 20:40KIZ Royal Kino, Graz
Mo 18. August 20.00 Votivkino, Wien
Do 21. August 20.15 Volkskino Klagenfurt
Mo 25. August 20.30 Cinematograph, Innsbruck
Mi 27. August 21.00 Cinema Paradiso Baden

read more

NEWS

DEAR BEAUTIFUL BELOVED

ÖSTERREICHISCHER FILMPREIS: 
BESTE MONTAGE - ANDREA WAGNER
für ihre herausragende Arbeit an
DEAR BEAUTIFUL BELOVED 
 

JETZT IM KINO:

ALARM 

Ein Film von Judith Zdesar  

Jetzt Gemeindekino - Vorstellung in Ihrer Gemeinde buchen
www.gemeindekino.at 

GemeindeKINOs schaffen KINOgemeinden

Erlebt echte Kinomomente bei euch im Ort!
Eine Vielzahl ausgewählter Filme findet Ihr auf  

www.gemeindekino.at oder
www.facebook.com/GemeindeKINO
 

ÖSTERREICHISCHER FILMPREIS 2025

DREI Nominierungen für DEAR BEAUTIFUL BELOVED
- Bester Dokumentarfilm 
- Beste Montage 
-Beste Tongestaltung 

 

read more

FESTIVALS

WHERE YOU MEET US IN PERSON

read more