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.
DOK Leipzig 2018, DE | Achtung Berlin Film Festival 2019, DE
ver.di Award (DOK Leipzig 2018, DE) | Honorable Mention Goethe-Institute (DOK Leipzig 2018, DE) | Ecumenical Award (Achtung Berlin Film Festival 2019, DE)
NOVEMBER 2025
ein Film von Mathias Broe
DK 2025, 105 Minuten, OmdU, FSK 16
Mi 12.11. 20:40 KIZ Royal Kino
Mo 17.11., 20:00 Votivkino, Wien
Mi 19.11., 20:10 Volkskino Klagenfurt
Do 20.11., 20:30 Cinema Paradiso Baden
Mo 24.11. 20.30 Cinematograph
Ein Film von Jasmila Žbanic
BOSNISCHER OSCAR-BEITRAG 2026 "Best Feature Film"
Wien: Topkino
Berlin: City Kino Wedding, Kino Krokodil
München: Neues Maxim Kino
weitere Kino folgen
ORT OHNE ERINNERUNG. KAISERSTEINBRUCH, die verschwundene Geschichte
Ein Film von Reinhard Tötschinger
Wien-Premiere am 20.11., 20.00 Metro Kinokulturhaus TICKETS
In Anwesenheit des Regisseurs, des Teams und Protagonisten
Sonderveranstaltung in Wien: Fr 21.11., 20.00 und Mo 1.12., 20.00
Innsbruck-Premiere am Fr 28.11., 20.00 Leokino
In Anwesenheit des Regisseurs und Protagonistin
Graz-Premiere am Mi 3.12., 18.00 KIZ Royal Kino
In Anwesenheit des Regisseurs
Linz-Premiere am Fr 5.12. Moviemento
In Anwesenheit des Regisseurs
Erlebt echte Kinomomente bei euch im Ort!
Eine Vielzahl ausgewählter Filme findet Ihr auf
Kino Vod Club, Watch AUT
BiH´s entry for the 98th ACADEMY AWARDS
in the category: BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Kasseler Dok Fest, GER, 19 Nov
A film by Mwita Mataro and Helmut Karner
14-18 November: IDFA