Markus Schleinzer

Directing

Markus Schleinzer

Born

1971-11-08 (54)

Place of birth

Vienna, Austria

Known for

Directing

Credits

49 titles

Markus Schleinzer (born 8 November 1971; Vienna) is an Austrian film director, screenwriter, casting director, and actor. He is best known his feature films Michael (2011) and Rose (2026). Before establishing as a filmmaker, Schleinzer built a long career as a casting director, working on more than 60 Austrian film and television productions and collaborating with directors including Michael Haneke, Ulrich Seidl, and Jessica Hausner. His background in casting has been widely cited by Schleinzer as a formative influence on his approach to acting and staging as a director.

Known for

Scene of the Crime poster
6.2

Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.

Scene of the Crime

1970

Vienna Crime Squad poster
4.9

SOKO Donau is an Austrian television series.

Vienna Crime Squad

2005

The Conference poster
6.7

On January 20, 1942, the Wannsee Conference takes place in Berlin, a meeting that had only one item on the agenda: The Final Solution, the organization of the systematic mass murder of eleven million European Jews.

The Conference

2022

Chess Story poster
6.8

1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

Chess Story

2021

Rose poster
7.7

In the early 17th century, a soldier arrives at an isolated Protestant village in Germany claiming to be the heir to an abandoned farmstead. Even though he proves to be a good man, the villagers’ suspicions about his identity grow and they force a reckoning.

Rose

2026

Other People's Money poster
6.9

The cum-ex scandal has caused 146 billion euros in losses in several countries. Inspired by true events, two women from Germany and Denmark are trying to put an end to it.

Other People's Money

2025

Film credits

2020s · 13 titles

The Conference poster
6.7

On January 20, 1942, the Wannsee Conference takes place in Berlin, a meeting that had only one item on the agenda: The Final Solution, the organization of the systematic mass murder of eleven million European Jews.

The Conference

2022

Chess Story poster
6.8

1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

Chess Story

2021

The Rays and Shadows poster
7.5

Jean and Otto, a French newspaperman and a young German Francophile, are fighting for peace in Europe. Jean’s daughter, Corinne, is launching a brilliant acting career in the film world, but war breaks out and France is occupied. The two friends have a major role to play in this new France. Jean becomes a big press baron and an ardent advocate of collaboration with the occupying forces, while Otto becomes the Reich’s ambassador in Paris. Corinne, meanwhile, finds herself thrown into the lion’s pit.

The Rays and Shadows

2026

Four Minus Three poster
8.2

Barbara and her partner Heli are professional clowns, living out their dream of an alternative, joy filled life with their two children, laughing at what doesn't work out. But when a tragic car accident takes Heli and the children, Barbara is left alone. In the face of unspeakable loss, her belief in humor, hope, and humanity is put to the ultimate test. Can her way of seeing the world — through both its light and shadow — help her find a way back to life? She bets she'll laugh again.

Four Minus Three

2026

Sisi & I poster
6.2

After an elaborate application process, Empress Elisabeth of Austria hires Countess Irma as her new lady-in-waiting and takes her to her summer residence on Corfu. As the two women become closer there, this soon leads to tensions back in Vienna.

Sisi & I

2023

Hinterland poster
6.2

Vienna, 1920. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has collapsed. Peter Perg returns home from the Great War, after years of captivity. But the Vienna he comes home to is nothing like the place he once knew. The new Austrian Republic thrives on social and artistic freedom, but anti-democratic movements and unemployment loom overhead. A stranger in his hometown, his life takes a turn for the worse when one of his former comrades is murdered. Suddenly the mysterious killings of veterans are mounting. Personally connected to the victims, Perg decides to bring the killer to justice. He finds an ally in the cool-headed forensic doctor Theresa Körner, with whom he has a deeper, shared history. Their investigation leads them into the darkest corners of the city, as they confront a brutal and systematic killer and intrigues from within the police force. But when the killer’s net closes around Perg himself, he faces the moral dilemma of his life.

Hinterland

2021

In My Parents' House poster
8.0

A therapist whose interests lie in alternative ways to help the sick and infirm is forced to balance the demands of her professional life with those of her ageing parents and older brother, in Tim Ellrich’s sensitive but uncompromising drama.

In My Parents' House

2025

Veni Vidi Vici poster
5.4

The Maynards and their children lead an almost perfect billionaire family life. Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family's wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences.

Veni Vidi Vici

2024

Brainfuck poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Brainfuck

2023

Aufstand im Bordell - Frauenhandel um 1900 poster
8.0

In the spring of 1902, Viennese working-class daughter Marie König runs away from her beating father and is lured into a high-class brothel by an agent. Instead of the promised self-determined life "with horse-drawn carriage rides and silk dresses", she experiences closed doors, violence and exploitation. Only after years of agony does Marie confide in the journalist Emil Bader, who makes the conditions in the brothel public and takes the owner, Regine Riehl, to court.

Aufstand im Bordell - Frauenhandel um 1900

2024

All Will Be Revealed poster
NR

Set in 1964, a man returns to his hometown looking for his childhood sweetheart but discovers a dark and corrupt world.

All Will Be Revealed

2023

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Der unsichtbare Zeuge

2026

Rupture poster
NR

Mrs. Pospisil lives alone in an apartment in an old building in Vienna. The elderly lady's increasing forgetfulness prompts her son to suggest that she move into a nursing home. But then suddenly a crack opens up in one of the walls of her apartment, through which something enters Mrs. Pospisil's world that will change her life forever. Paul Ertl's highly efficient and picture-perfect The Crack is a psychologically underpinned mid-length horror miniature that transforms into a utopia as casual as it is original as it is gently disturbing, and is ultimately also a powerful plea for the autonomy of older people.

Rupture

2022

2010s · 17 titles

Nevrland poster
5.8

17-year-old Jakob wants nothing more than to feel alive. Uncontrollable anxiety attacks prevent him from doing so and force him to escape into virtual worlds. One night, he meets 26-year-old Kristjan in a cam chat. Their encounter marks the beginning of a transpersonal journey to the wounds of their souls.

Nevrland

2019

The Ground Beneath My Feet poster
5.6

Lola controls her personal life with the same ruthless efficiency she uses to optimize profits in her job as a business consultant. But when a tragic event forces the past back into her life, Lola's grip on reality seems to slips away.

The Ground Beneath My Feet

2019

Shillings from Heaven poster
7.2

Tyrol, 1932: The world economic crisis is at its peak, radical political movements emerge. In a small Austrian community, the engine driver Michael Unterguggenberger accepts the mayor's office against better knowledge. But how is he supposed to save Wörgl? The power of despair and the support of his wife Rosa form the breeding ground for a daring experiment: Unterguggenberger wants to print his own money without further ado - so-called work confirmation notes. For this he not only has to convince the community of his city, but above all to rebel against the mighty banking.

Shillings from Heaven

2018

The Robber poster
6.4

A champion marathoner leads a double life as a serial bank robber, sprinting between fixes (and away from police cavalcades) as many as three times a day.

The Robber

2010

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Margarethe Ottillinger – Die Frau, die zu viel wusste

2016

The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich poster
7.8

At the end of his life, Wilhelm Reich - psychiatrist and experimental scientist searching for the fundamentals of life - finds himself on trial, charged with deception. His dream of liberating human individuality makes him a dangerous opponent of an American system that is striving after 1945 for global hegemony, using all available means. Was it madness to believe in man's liberty or was Reich simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and, being a holistic global thinker, accurately observing far-reaching socio-political linkages? Ten years after his mysterious death, his writings, once burnt by the US FDA, become an important source of inspiration for a '68 generation in revolt. Written by Novotny & Novotny

The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich

2013

Superegos poster
4.8

Nick Gutlicht lives of illegally selling valuable books, owes money to a bunch of other crooks and has to hide from them. By chance he ends up in the mansion of the famous, now very old philosopher Curt Ledig, who despite the age related forgetfulness and pathological kitchen phobia resists to move to his daughter. Nick is hired by the family as watchdog. Now Curt can work on a presentation for the upcoming symposium, which anybody thinks he's capable of anymore. Nick thinks he has an excellent hiding place. This partnership of convenience of the two individuals quickly develops its own momentum. Curt regards Nick as an exciting research object and subjects him to an absurd therapy. For Nick it's a unique opportunity to fund his finances with Curt's phenomenal library. The strange couple is going through turmoil of incalculable proportions.

Superegos

2014

Alles Schwindel poster
4.6

The catastrophe is perfect: Gustav Klimt's world-famous "kiss" was stolen from the museum. What is a problem for some is a salvation for others. For the impoverished Count Leopold, the loss of the picture is an advantage, because now he can earn the sum insured for the family-owned work of art. For the fashion designer Isabella, theft is definitely a problem too much. Not only is her father Albert, who was supposed to guard the picture on the night of the crime, now with a heart attack in the hospital, he admits to her that the stolen Klimt made a self-made ...

Alles Schwindel

2013

Der Metzger muß nachsitzen poster
7.0

For 25 years, restorer Willibald Adrian Metzger has heard nothing from his former schoolmates. Then he suddenly stumbles - quite literally - over the corpse of a former classmate who had bullied him in a cruel way in his school days. When Metzger arrives at the scene with the police, he can't believe his eyes: the body is gone. Against his nature and spurred on by Danjela's curiosity, the former eccentric organizes a class reunion to uncover the cover-up of the bloody deed. His former classmates are astounded by the eloquence of the actually shy outsider, who uses his sharp mind and great powers of deduction to twist their words around in their mouths...

Der Metzger muß nachsitzen

2015

Border Country poster
5.4

In southern Burgenland, Austria, 18-year-old Renate is found dead in a wooded area. Investigator Elfriede Jandrasits, who is known for her tenacity at the Eisenstadt Criminal Police Office, takes on the case. She is under a lot of time pressure because her husband's retirement party is imminent.

Border Country

2018

Burning Souls poster
6.5

A story about of one of the darkest periods in German history, an era in which the belief in occult forces was widespread. In Bamberg, witch hunts were fostered by a greedy and delusional Bishop Prince and reached their peak around 1630. This Bamberg ruler used the witch trials to purge his political enemies and enrich himself with their goods. Almost 1000 innocent men, women and children became his victims. BURNING SOULS deals with the era seen through the eyes of Johanna Wolff, a pharmacist's daughter, and the young physician Cornelius Weinmann. To save the innocent, he and a few courageous men revolt against the Bishop Prince.

Burning Souls

2014

Eine Liebe für den Frieden – Bertha von Suttner und Alfred Nobel poster
5.3

Bertha Kinsky works as a governess in the Suttner household and has an affair with Arthur Suttner, the son of the house, who is a few years younger than her. When the affair is discovered, she is forced to leave the house and gets a job with Alfred Nobel. Nobel has become very rich thanks to the invention of dynamite. The somewhat reclusive Nobel and the prudent Bertha quickly take a liking to each other. But one day, Arthur Suttner appears on the doorstep, having broken with his family in order to marry Bertha. Bertha marries him and life drives the penniless couple to Russia, where they are confronted with the horrors of war. This experience turned Bertha von Suttner into a successful author on pacifism. She continued to cultivate a close friendship with Alfred Nobel. Nobel detested the war, but gradually realized that he could go down in the history books as a "warmonger" thanks to the invention of dynamite.

Eine Liebe für den Frieden – Bertha von Suttner und Alfred Nobel

2014

The Wagner-Clan poster
3.6

After the death of genius Richard Wagner his wife Cosima fights for his legacy even against the will of her children Sigmund and Sieglinde.

The Wagner-Clan

2015

One of Us poster
6.4

A huge supermarket is the only social meeting point for the inhabitants of an industrialized suburb in Austria. This is where Julian, a lively 14-year-old, meets the misfit Marko, 16. One night, brimming with youthful enthusiasm, they break into the supermarket. The film is based on a true event.

One of Us

2015

No artwork available
3.7

When her 80-year-old father Robert needs a caregiver after an accident, Ira wants to take care of him at home - despite her difficult relationship with him. He had left her and her mother to start a second family. But now she sees the opportunity to approach him. However, given the high cost of care, she knows how to help but hire the Eastern European caregiver Elisaveta, who works for her black - much to the displeasure of her husband Marquard, who has ambitions as a local politician in addition to his work as a career counselor and never before understood with Robert.

Die fremde Familie

2011

Wannabe poster
2.3

17-year-old Coco wants to become famous. She goes to each audition, but is rejected time and again. On her YouTube channel, she creates a fictional world in which everything is perfect and her self-confidence is based on likes and followers.

Wannabe

2017

Unmensch poster
NR

"I'm not a bad person, really. I buy fair trade vegetables and hate HC Strache." Excerpt from the play Jasper is rehearsing with his theater group. The young actor is inspired and wants to increase the energy of the text by bringing a gun on stage. The director finds this neither bold nor fresh, but simply stupid. Together with his fellow actress Dany, Jasper wants to convince a real person outside in the real world. Whoever cries at the end will be celebrated.

Unmensch

2016

2000s · 3 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Rose poster
7.7

In the early 17th century, a soldier arrives at an isolated Protestant village in Germany claiming to be the heir to an abandoned farmstead. Even though he proves to be a good man, the villagers’ suspicions about his identity grow and they force a reckoning.

Rose

2026

Rose poster
7.7

In the early 17th century, a soldier arrives at an isolated Protestant village in Germany claiming to be the heir to an abandoned farmstead. Even though he proves to be a good man, the villagers’ suspicions about his identity grow and they force a reckoning.

Rose

2026

No artwork available
NR

Follows singer Klaus Nomi, an important part of New York’s East Village art scene in the 1970s, before his death from AIDS in 1983. Nomi was known for his bizarre theatrical live performances, heavy make-up and unusual costumes.

Klaus

—

No artwork available
NR

Follows singer Klaus Nomi, an important part of New York’s East Village art scene in the 1970s, before his death from AIDS in 1983. Nomi was known for his bizarre theatrical live performances, heavy make-up and unusual costumes.

Klaus

—

Casanova Variations poster
5.3

Alone in a secluded mansion, Giacomo Casanova cries out then collapses. When the mysterious and beautiful writer, Elisa von der Recke, comes to visit, it breathes new life into the old man. A movie that captures the myth of the greatest seducer of all times, Casanova, his story is told both through fiction and on-stage opera performances that unravel the tale of his adventures, his passions, and ultimately his fear of death.

Casanova Variations

2014

Angelo poster
3.5

In early 18th century an African slave boy is chosen by a European Comtesse to be baptized and educated. Reaching adulthood, Angelo achieves prominence and soon becomes the Viennese court mascot until he decides to secretly marry a white woman.

Angelo

2019

Angelo poster
3.5

In early 18th century an African slave boy is chosen by a European Comtesse to be baptized and educated. Reaching adulthood, Angelo achieves prominence and soon becomes the Viennese court mascot until he decides to secretly marry a white woman.

Angelo

2019

Angelo poster
3.5

In early 18th century an African slave boy is chosen by a European Comtesse to be baptized and educated. Reaching adulthood, Angelo achieves prominence and soon becomes the Viennese court mascot until he decides to secretly marry a white woman.

Angelo

2019

Michael poster
6.8

Although to the outside world he seems like a perfectly normal insurance broker, Michael secretly keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in a room in his soundproof basement.

Michael

2011

Michael poster
6.8

Although to the outside world he seems like a perfectly normal insurance broker, Michael secretly keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in a room in his soundproof basement.

Michael

2011