
SLEEPING WITH A TIGER
A FILM BY ANJA SALOMONOWITZ
BIRGIT MINICHMAYR AS THE PAINTER MARIA LASSNIG







SHORT SYNOPSIS
SLEEPING WITH A TIGER by Anja Salomonowitz is a poetic portrait of the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig (Birgit Minichmayr.) Gifted child, abandoned daughter, determined woman, lonely artist, explorer of inner worlds, celebrated painter - throughout her life Maria Lassnig searches for her own personal artistic expression. The search is always a struggle, as she collides with the male dominated art world and devotes her entire being to bringing her experience and pain to the canvas. When she finds success and finally becomes a celebrated artist, she’ll do that her own way too.
SLEEPING WITH A TIGER is a biopic with its own form. The painter Maria Lassnig is embodied by one actress, Birgit Minichmayr, at every age - whether she is 6, 19, 64 or 94 years old. She moves through time as an eternally identical figure.
Birgit Minichmayr always plays Maria Lassnig; an artistic translation of the painter's mental state. It is said of Maria Lassnig that she was ageless: she was already wise as a young girl, and remained young at heart as an old woman. The film also translates the physical act of painting, "seeing and feeling the world from the inside out", into a filmic language, itself attempting to paint an inner portrait of this exceptional artist.
This film is therefore no longer really a biopic. It is an evocative, picturesque vision of how memories and feelings are not anchored in time, but able to evoke images at any time.










Maria Lassnig, in advanced age, stooped but with a strong voice and vehement demeanor, inspects the set-up of an exhibition and shakes her head. Her paintings have not been hung properly. "My paintings, they have to shine," she says, criticizing the gallery owners. It is Anja Salomonowitz who makes Maria Lassnig's works shine in her film SLEEPING WITH A TIGER.
SLEEPING WITH A TIGER also tells the story of the awakening of a woman who was born in Carinthia, southern Austria, in 1919. She grew up with her grandmother and later with her mother, who taught her that a woman can only exist alongside a man. Arnulf Rainer, 10 years her junior, became her partner and even the avant-garde cultivated male dominance in society and art. As a result, the young artist had to put up with numerous humiliations as Rainer’s epigone, "which of course really affected my heart," she says.
Anja Salomonowitz has created a film that is far from the typical biopic narrative, of the self-discovery of an artist, but is instead a radically feminist work. Lassnig's oeuvre stands above all for the introspective exploration of her own state of mind and the artistic expression of physical sensations. Anja Salomonowitz not only makes this visionary approach to art visible in SLEEPING WITH A TIGER, but also makes the concept of body awareness, which is essential to Lassnig's work, tangible with every grimace, every contortion or every shrug of the shoulders of the main actress Birgit Minichmayr.
Birgit Minichmayr IS Maria Lassnig. She is the child who snuggles up to her father, she is the young, still shy, undiscovered artist, she is the self-confident but constantly vulnerable woman. She is the headstrong woman who does not serve the male-dominated art market for the sake of money, but demands equal pay. She is the older painter who sees her paintings as her children, children who must not be sent to the orphanage. Minichmayr embodies Lassnig at all stages of her life - ageless, timeless, fascinating like her art.
In her directorial concept and screenplay, Anja Salomonowitz sets herself the challenging task of portraying 80 years of a woman’s life, without any masks. Minichmayr's ingenious performance, her physical expression, her voice, allow us to easily follow all the leaps through time the film takes. Like a conductor, Anja Salomonowitz orchestrates the actress's timbre through the decades. The script (screenplay: Anja Salomonowitz, dramaturgy: Roland Zag) is densely interwoven and takes us through Maria Lassnig's life and the history of art in the last century.
Colors and motifs from Maria Lassnig's artistic world are also repeatedly reflected in Anja Salomonowitz's film images. SLEEPING WITH A TIGER locates the biographical within the works of art themselves and creates unobtrusive, yet haunting visual quotations. The red motorcycle tells the story of an absent father, the cream-white telephone in the Parisian studio announces the imminent death of a mother.
Formative moments are told through moving images and then find their counterparts in Lassnig's colorful imagery. "Am I afraid to use the color brown because of my past?" she asks herself, after we see the powerful image of the swastika-flag draped Academy of Arts in Vienna, where she completed her studies during these dark times.
Carried by spherical sounds (sound design by Veronika Hlawatsch, music by Bernhard Fleischmann), Lassnig's world of color, images and emotions opens up scene by scene on the cinema screen.








My idea to make a film about Maria Lassnig began with her paintings, of course. With the colors, because I love the colors in Maria Lassnig's paintings. I stood in front of her paintings in the museum over and over, and was deeply inspired. By the inner expression of longing, the profound feelings, the unfathomability of life that is in her paintings. Sometimes I would go to an exhibition twice, to experience this feeling again. Sometimes three times. Sometimes I have followed her paintings as they travel.
(Excerpt from Maria Lassnig's diary)
I love the idea that this Maria Lassnig went to her studio every day and gave herself over to the stream of consciousness of creativity. She sensed herself. She searched for the equivalent of a feeling inside a color. I love this life lived in art, this unconditional will to create. Her days in the studio. The silence. I also love her questions, her doubts, her self-expression.
I also like the story of how Maria Lassnig ended up conquering the male dominated art market, simply by being an artist. When her late success finally came, it was already late for her, and she could no longer find happiness in it. She was always disappointed in principle. But her longing for this success also drove her through her life, just as it drives her through this film. A lonely fighter. I think it's important to film such a feminist success story.
I think about filmmaking while I'm making movies. In this case: revealing the biopic, which can only ever show an excerpt, and always remains an interpretation of the biographer. My answer to this is: become radical. It usually helps, anyway. Radical in approach and radical in execution. And then through this to see a tender movie emerge.
I like the idea that our soul always remains the same while it meanders through time and events. Let's say that it shapes itself. It rubs off, picks things up, grows through the process. On the inside. The whole movie and all the characters in it always act as if this is all completely normal. I think this allows the humor of this idea to fully unfold. Maria Lassnig was also a person full of humor.
Like in the scene where she dresses extra sloppily when going to visit collectors, in order to appear poorer and thus get higher prices. She was merciless. I love these ambivalent stories her employees or curators told me in the course of my extensive research. I love these stories because they are so human.
I also love the silence into which she has gone. I think of the sounds that you can nevertheless still hear. The words from her diary, as evidence of an inner search for the right art. And for this film: what does it mean in terms of cinematic possibility when the person portrayed looks the same throughout the story, regardless of where they are supposed to stand in reality? Or, in Lassnig's language: how does it feel?
This film uses its own cinematic language to say something about Maria Lassnig without saying it. It develops a life of its own, which grows out of the combination of the idea with all our cinematic ‘strategies’: the set (Martin Reiter with Andreas Ertl), the lighting (Dominik Danner), the editing (Joana Scrinzi), the sound design (Veronika Hlawatsch), the music (Bernhard Fleischmann). All based on this radical person. I like the way Maria Lassnig created hell on earth for herself - and within it a wealth of brightly shining images.

© Reinhard Werner

© katsey


© Antonia Renner



HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE CREATIVE TEAM. PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACCOMPANIED ANJA SALOMONOWITZ FOR SEVERAL FILMS.






Andreas Ertl was born in Vienna in 1983 and studied Industrial Design in Paolo Piva's master class at the Angewandte Kunst Wien.
During his studies he developed a love of experimenting with materials in various forms - he likes to move between art and design.
After founding his own design studio, he exhibited at international design fairs and taught digital prototyping at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.
He came to film as a career changer and worked on several productions in various areas of the art department.
This resulted in his own work as a set designer for music videos, short films and cinema productions. He has been working closely with Anja Salomonowitz since 2019.
Stefan Steiner(*1977 in Kufstein) grew up in Tyrol and Vienna, came to Graz by chance and started as a prop master at the Graz Schauspielhaus - since then he has had a close relationship with the theater.
Back in Vienna, he worked for several years as an assistant set designer at the Bundestheater and was involved in major theater and opera productions.
His next step was to move into the film industry. He worked on international productions as a prop master, exterior prop master and set decorator.
He has been working closely with Anja Salomonowitz since 2019.


Roland Zag, born 1958, studied musicology, theater studies and philosophy. 1986-2000 Numerous documentaries on mainly artistic and musical themes. Since 2000 he has worked as a dramaturge and script consultant on more than 100 cinema and TV films in the German-speaking world.
"A biography is always just an interpretation; my film doesn't claim to hold any truth"
INTERVIEW ON CINEUROPE
"A new docudrama raises the profile of Austrian avant-garde painter Maria Lassnig (1919-2014) considered one of the most important artists of the 20th/early 21st century."
"It’s best to see both the biopic and the shorts to appreciate Lassnig’s uncanny talent for marrying morbidity and frolic, rigor and wantonness."
ARTICLE ABOUT LASSNIG'S SHORTFILMS ON HYPERALLERGIC




BERLINALE // BERLIN
15.2.2024 - 25.2.2024
https://www.berlinale.de/de/2024/programm/202404487.html
DIAGONALE - FESTIVAL DES ÖSTERREICHISCHEN FILMS // GRAZ
4.4.2024 - 9.4.2024
https://www.diagonale.at/filmarchiv/?fid=12059
BOLZANO FILM FESTIVAL // BOZEN
12.4.2024 - 21.4.2024
https://www.filmfestival.bz.it/de/heute-2045-mit-einem-tiger-schlafen-wettbewerb/
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE - FICCI // CARTAGENA
16.4.2024 - 21.4.2024
https://ficcifestival.com/sleeping-with-a-tiger/
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE INDEPENDIENTE (BAFICI) // BUENOS AIRES
17.4.2024 - 28.4.2024
https://bafici.org/noticias/programacion-completa-del-25-bafici/
SOTTO LE STELLE DELL’AUSTRIA // ROM
18.6.2024. - 3.7.2024
https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2024/06/16/sotto-le-stelle-dellaustria-2024/
NEW HORIZONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL // WROCLAW
18.7.2024 - 4.8.2024
https://www.nowehoryzonty.pl/menu.do?id=3755
FESTIVAL DES DEUTSCHEN FILMS // LUDWIGSHAFEN AM RHEIN
21.8.2024 - 8.9.2024
https://www.festival-des-deutschen-films.de/filme/mit-einem-tiger-schlafen
FILM OHNE GRENZEN - INTERNATIONALES FILMFESTIVAL // BAD SAAROW
12.9.2024 - 15.9.2024
https://www.filmohnegrenzen.de/film/mit-einem-tiger-schlafen/
WAHFF FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM HISTORIQUE // WATERLOO
19.9.2024 - 22.9.2024
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL // VANCOUVER
26.9.2024 - 6.10.2024
https://viff.org/whats-on/viff24-sleeping-with-a-tiger/
01.10.2024 : LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE // WILLIAMSTOWN // MASSACHUSETTS
Anja Salomonowitz hält eine lecture am Liberal Arts College ("Transforming Art into Film“) in Williamstown.
https://german.williams.edu/german-austrian-film-festival/
JI.HLAVA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL // JIHLAVA
25.10.2024 - 3.11.2024
Anja Salomonowitz hat die Documentary Academy gemeinsam mit dem philippinischen Filmemacher Khavn De La Cruz und dem Festivalleiter Marek Hovorka ins Leben gerufen.
Vier Tage lang (29. Oktober - 1. November) bietet die Ji.hlava Academy ein kreatives Labor für alle, die zeitgenössische Filme machen, darüber nachdenken oder sie mit anderen teilen möchten.
https://www.ji-hlava.com/
SAAS-FEE FILMFEST // SAAS-FEE
29.10.2024 - 3.11.2024
https://sfff.ch/aktuell/
FESTIVAL DE CINE POR MUJERES // MADRID
29.10.2024 - 10.11.2024
https://www.festivalcinepormujeres.com/
IFEMA - INTERNATIONAL FEMALE & FILM FESTIVAL // MALMÖ
6.11.2024 - 10.11.2024
https://www.femalefilmfestival.se/sleeping-with-a-tiger/
09.11.2024 : BEIJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY / PÄDAGOGISCHE UNIVERSITÄT // BEIJING
Mit Publikumsgespräch
https://english.bnu.edu.cn/
10.11.2024 : UCCA CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART IM RAHMEN DES ARS ELECTRONICA // BEIJING, CHINA
UCCA 尤伦斯当代艺术中心
Mit Publikumsgespräch
https://ucca.org.cn/en/programs/ucca-beijing/cinema-arts
19.11.2024 : STUTTGART MERZ AKADEMIE
19.11 Anja Salomonowitz hält einen Vortrag bei der Ringvorlesung an der Merz Akademie in Stuttgart mit dem Thema „Realismus und Kino“.
www.merz-akademie.de
4.12.2024 : NEUE NATIONALGALERIE BERLIN // BERLIN
im Rahmen der Sammlungspräsentation „Zerreißprobe“
https://www.smb.museum/ausstellungen/detail/zerreissprobe-kunst-zwischen-politik-und-gesellschaft/
CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL // CHENNAI
12.12.2024 - 19.12.2024
https://chennaifilmfest.com/
FILMFEST - FESTIVAL DU CINÉMA GERMANOPHONE // LAUSANNE
27.1.2025 - 29.1.2025
https://www.filmfest-lausanne.ch/
LE FIFA FESTVIAL // MONTRÉAL // KANADA
21.3.2025 - 30.3.2025
https://lefifa.com/catalogue/sleeping-with-a-tiger
BELGRAD 25 - AUSTRIAN FILM FESTIVAL // BELGRAD
10.4.2025 - 13.4.2025
https://www.bmeia.gv.at/kf-belgrad/
FESTIVAL L’EUROPE AUTOR DE L’EUROPE // PARIS
23.4.2025 // 19:00, CINEMA STUDIO DES URSULINES
www.evropafilmakt.com/en
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL // CINETECA NACIONAL // MEXICO CITY
14.5.2025, 18:15, SALA 10
17.5.2025, 18:15, SALA 10
El Salvador
Freitag, 16. Mai um 19 Uhr
Ort: Cinépolis Multiplaza
Guatemala:
Mittwoch, 28. Mai um 18:30 Uhr
Honduras:
Samstag, 31. Mai um 19:15 Uhr
Ort: Tegucigalpa, Metrocinemas Novacentro
Sofia 2025 - The Golden Linden International Film Festival (31.05.2025-04.06.2025)
01.06.2025
Fontainebleau 2025 - Festival de l’histoire de l’art
06.06.2025-08.06.2025
Worpswede - Moorrübe
09.07.2025
Sonora - Cineteca Sonora // Mexiko
Mittwoch, 16. Juli um 18:00 Uhr
Cineteca Sonora
PRATERSAUNA WIEN
23.07.2025 | 21:00
https://pratersauna.tv/kinofilm/mit-einem-tiger-schlafen/
Puebla - Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla // Mexiko
Freitag, 08. August
Costa Rica - Cine Magaly:
Samstag, 16. August um 18:35 Uhr
Montag, 18. August um 16:00 Uhr
Sonntag, 24. August um 18:30 Uhr
Ort: Cine Magaly
Malans - Filmfest Malans (Schweiz)
23.08.2025
Guadalajara - Cineforo // Mexiko
Freitag, 29. August
Veracruz - Ágora // Mexiko
Dienstag, 2. September

We are delighted to announce that SLEEPING WITH A TIGER won the World Cinema Special Jury Award at the 22nd Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF).
The Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Chennai, India, by a film society, the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), with the support of The Government of Tamil Nadu, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and the Film Federation of India.

WAHFF FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM HISTORIQUE // WATERLOO
19.9.2024 - 22.9.2024

Anja Salomonowitz was honored at the 37th Bolzano Film Festival Bolzano in the category "Best Artistic Achievement" for her screenplay and direction of MIT EINEM TIGER SCHLAFEN.
Jury statement:
Telling a life. It sounds so simple, but it often isn't. The winning film manages to master this challenging task by telling an unembellished, complex portrait of a struggling artist's life in a creative, innovative way. In this way, paintings are miraculously transformed into scenes of a unique female artist's existence, enhanced solely by the audiovisual artistry of cinema.
MORE INFORMATION HERE






Anja Salomonowitz was awarded the special prize at the Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award - for a screenplay with particularly outstandingly treated aspects for a feature-length feature film or a feature-length television film.
The Diagonale Acting Award went to Birgit Minichmayr for her portrayal of Maria Lassnig in MIT EINEM TIGER SCHLAFEN.
The Diagonale Award for outstanding production achievements went to Antonin Svoboda for MIT EINEM TIGER SCHLAFEN.
The Diagonale Award for Best Production Design went to Martin Reiter with Andreas Ertl.
Fotos © Kleine Zeitung | Stefan Pajman
Foto © Diagonale | Miriam Raneburger
SLEEPING WITH A TIGER | DVD & STREAM

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