Ferry Radax
Encyclopedia
Ferry Radax is an Austria
n film maker born in Vienna
. He has been active in many genres since 1949. He studied at Vienna's Film Institute in 1953-54, followed by Cinecittà
, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
, in Rome
in 1955-56. He has produced films all around Europe, and also in South America, USA and New Zealand
. He has made feature films, but is mostly known for short experimental films, documentaries and portrayals of poets and artists. Some of them, Konrad Bayer
, Friedensreich Hundertwasser
and H. C. Artmann
, he became acquainted with in the early 1950s as a member of Art-Club
in Vienna.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n film maker born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He has been active in many genres since 1949. He studied at Vienna's Film Institute in 1953-54, followed by Cinecittà
Cinecittà
Cinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film....
, in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1955-56. He has produced films all around Europe, and also in South America, USA and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He has made feature films, but is mostly known for short experimental films, documentaries and portrayals of poets and artists. Some of them, Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer
Konrad Bayer was an Austrian writer and poet. A member of the Wiener Gruppe, he combined apparently irreconcilable elements—violence, hermeticism, pessimism, ecstasy, banality—and influences —into a bizarre linguistic solipsism which has held increasing fascination for German writers of...
, Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.-Life:Hundertwasser's father Ernst Stowasser died three...
and H. C. Artmann
H. C. Artmann
Hans Carl Artmann , also known as Ib Hansen, was an Austria-born poet and writer, most popular for his early poems written in Viennese , which however never after were to be the focus of his oeuvre.-Life and work:Artmann was born in Vienna as the son of shoe...
, he became acquainted with in the early 1950s as a member of Art-Club
Art-Club
Art-Club was an association of artists during the postwar period in Vienna, Austria, in 1946–1959.-History:Art-Club was formed with the intention of fighting for the autonomy of modern art. This rather late standpoint in art history should be viewed in the light of the conditions dictated by Nazi...
in Vienna.
Selected films
- Sonne halt! (Sun stop!, 1960) With Konrad BayerKonrad BayerKonrad Bayer was an Austrian writer and poet. A member of the Wiener Gruppe, he combined apparently irreconcilable elements—violence, hermeticism, pessimism, ecstasy, banality—and influences —into a bizarre linguistic solipsism which has held increasing fascination for German writers of...
. The film which Ferry Radax is most known for in his native country. An experimental film produced in Italy and Switzerland. 26 min., black and white. It was shown as the first film at Künstlerhaus (Artist's House) in Vienna in spring 2008, as Ferry Radax was celebrated and many of his films were shown for one and a half months. The film is on DVD since 2007. - Hundertwasser - Leben in Spiralen (Hundertwasser - life in spirals, 1966). Ferry Radax praised first documentary on his fellow-countryman, the artist Friedensreich HundertwasserFriedensreich HundertwasserFriedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.-Life:Hundertwasser's father Ernst Stowasser died three...
, and his life in Europe. - H.C. Artmann (1967). A portrait of a legendary Austrian poet. 42 min., black and white.
- Konrad Bayer, oder: die welt bin ich und das ist meine sache (Konrad Bayer, or: the world am I and that's my business, 1969). An experimental portrait of Konrad Bayer and his suicide. 52 min., black and white. A mixture of documentary and fiction.
- Der Kopf des Vitus BeringVitus BeringVitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correNavy]], a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich. He is noted for being the first European to discover Alaska and its Aleutian Islands...
(Vitus Bering's head, 1970). 26 min., black and white. An experimental mixture of documentary and fiction after a book by Konrad Bayer. - Thomas BernhardThomas BernhardThomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
- Drei Tage (Thomas Bernhard - three days, 1970). Based on a written self-portrait by the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard. - Schizophrene Maler (Schizofrenic painters, 1971).
- Der Italiener (The Italian, 1972), a feature film based on a script by Thomas Bernhard.
- Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig WittgensteinLudwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
(1976). 2x60 min. documentary/fiction. - Attentat in Bad GasteinBad GasteinBad Gastein is a spa town in the Austrian state of Salzburg, situated at the northern rim of the Hohe Tauern national park. It has 5,838 inhabitants. The name "Bad" means "spa", reflecting the town's history as a health resort. It is located at the head of the Gastein valley, about 1,000 metres ...
(Attack in Bad Gastein, 1979), a feature film on political terrorism. - Mit Erich von DänikenErich von DänikenErich Anton Paul von Däniken is a Swiss author best known for his controversial claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, in books such as Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968...
in Peru (With Erich von Däniken in Peru, 1982). A documentary. - CapriCapriCapri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
- Musik die sich entfernt, oder: Die seltsame Reise des Cyrill K. (Capri - music fading away, or: The strange journey of Cyrill K., 1983), a made-for-TV movie for the WDR, featuring Jacques d'Adelswärd-FersenJacques d'Adelsward-FersenBaron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was a novelist and poet of the early 20th century; his modern fame is based on a mid-century fictionalised biography by Roger Peyrefitte....
, and a lot of other historical Capri celebrities. The director himself appears as nonetheless than Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
. - Hundertwasser in Neuseeland (Hundertwasser in New Zealand, 1998). After 30 years Ferry Radax made a second portrait of the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.