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Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl

Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl
Die Gstettensaga, The Rise of Echsenfriedl - poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Written by Johannes Grenzfurthner, Roland Gratzer
Directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
Starring Sophia Grabner
Lukas Tagwerker
Martin Auer
Roland Gratzer
Evelyn Fürlinger
Jeff Ricketts
Eva-Christina Binder
David Dempsey
Harald Homolka-List
Conny Lee
Joe Baumgartner
Theme music composer Kasson Crooker, Starpause and others
Country of origin Austria
Original language(s) German, English
Production
Producer(s) Günther Friesinger, Johannes Grenzfurthner
Cinematography Thomas Weilguny
Editor(s) Estelle Hödl, Josef P. Wagner
Running time 72 minutes
Distributor ORF, monochrom
Budget EUR 5000
Release
Original release
  • March 10, 2014 (2014-03-10)

Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl (The Gstetten Saga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl) is an Austrian science fiction and fantasy film directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner and starring Sophia Grabner, Lukas Tagwerker and Jeff Ricketts.
The absurdist comedy deals with the politics and hype behind media technology and nerd culture. Grenzfurthner calls his film a contemporary way to talk about the critique of the spectacle and commodity fetishism.
The film was co-produced by art group monochrom and the media collective Traum & Wahnsinn, and created for the Austrian television channel ORF III.
It features music by Kasson Crooker, Starpause, and many others.

The growing tension between the last two remaining superpowers - China and Google - escalates in the early 21st century, and results in the global inferno of the "Google Wars". But as the decades go by, radioactive dust settles on old battlegrounds, and a New World rises from the ashes of the old.

Fratt Aigner, a seedy journalist, and Alalia Grundschober, a nerdy technician, live and work in Mega City Schwechat: the biggest semi-urban sprawl in the foothills of what remained of the Alps. Thurnher von Pjölk, who invented the printing press and runs the only newspaper around, feels threatened by the rise of a new generation of tech-savvy DIY nerds, who he fears will ruin his monopoly. He gives Alalia and Fratt the task to venture into the depths of Niederpröll and conduct a tele-o-vision interview with Echsenfriedl; a mythical genius that has a large fan base among the nerds.

Pjölk sends off Alalia and Fratt equipped with a broadcasting vehicle (a wheelbarrow full of recording equipment) to live broadcast the interview with Echsenfriedl on tele-o-vision. Fratt is very skeptical of leaving the safety of the Mega City, but Alalia is a huge fan of Echsenfriedl and has investigated into his hiding place on earlier occasions. She sees this as a golden opportunity to find Echsenfriedl and boost her agenda of social change through technology.

The road to finding Echsenfriedl is not an easy task and things start to go wrong as soon as they reach the border, which is protected by the Postal Service, who try to uphold civilization and fight structurelessness. The Postal Service confiscates their recording equipment and send Alalia and Fratt away in despair. They are abducted by a group of barbarians: descendents of farmers, in a cargo cult based on relics of office material, bureaucracy and vague memories of European Union agricultural grants. Alalia and Fratt have to blast their way out and manage to escape before they end up as a sacrifice.


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