SUNNY SIDE 2023: UNIVERSUM HISTORY CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
PRESS RELEASE | ONLINE VIEW

Sunny Side of the Doc, the three-day content fair for documentary films, offered an exclusive look at international co-productions, as ORF-Enterprise showcased its history line-up, with a thematic connection to the Pride Month.

La Rochelle/Vienna - Once again around 2,200 participants, representing 900 companies from more than 60 countries, attended the meeting point for documentaries on the Atlantic coast in France. This year, on the occasion of the strand’s 10th anniversary, ORF-Enterprise shined the spotlight on brand new UNIVERSUM History titles. In addition to history films that reach further back into the past, guests from the industry were presented an exclusive first preview of “Pride and Persecution”, by filmmaker Fritz Kalteis, which addresses the struggles of queer movements during the 20th century in Central Europe in a two part documentary, which will become available later this year.

“This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of ORF-‘Universum History’. Its high-quality documentaries seamlessly follow the success of ORF-‘Universum’ blue-chip nature line-up. We are thrilled to showcase our latest titles at Sunny Side 2023, offering exclusive insights into captivating stories from different eras,” emphasizes ORF-Enterprise CEO Oliver Böhm in the run-up to Sunny Side of the Doc.

“Highly accurate depictions of history with engaging storytelling: ORF’s ‘Universum History’ has been pursuing this approach very successfully for a decade. In addition to some recently released documentaries, I am particularly proud that we had the honor to present a first look at a compelling upcoming project ‘Pride and Persecution’ together with the producer of the documentary, Alex Wieser. Her exclusive insights into the status quo, the challenges and the perspectives of producing such a highly relevant documentary, have been such a valuable addition to the presentation,” says Armin Luttenberger, Head of Content Sales International at ORF-Enterprise.

UNIVERSUM History Celebrates 10th Anniversary with exclusive Showcase


To commemorate a decade of successful journeys into the past, ORF-Enterprise hosted an exclusive showcase and lunch on Wednesday, June 21 at Sunny Side of the Doc 2023.

Participants had the opportunity to get a taste of the recently published UNIVERSUM History titles, such as “Copernicus’ Secret - Triumph of Science”. Famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus hesitated to make his discovery of a heliocentric world public in fear of being denounced as a heretic. The film shines a light on his partner, Anna Schilling, who had a vital role in making his discovery public.

The two-parter “Age of Queens” (ORF, ZDF/ARTE) takes the viewer back to England’s Elizabethan era. The eponymous queen Elizabeth I., played by Marie-Christine Friedrich, shares an intimate yet historically accurate account of the lives of her rivals “Bloody” Mary Tudor and Mary Stuart. In “Clash of the Crown Princes” (ORF, ZDF/ARTE) two princes with interlinked fates grapple with the burden of preserving a crumbling empire. The worldviews and methods of Rudolf of Austria and Wilhelm of Prussia were drastically different, but only one path led to victory, as the other led to tragedy.

 

On the occasion of Pride Month, the audience in La Rochelle was also presented exclusive insights into the two-parter “Pride and Persecution” (ORF, ZDF/ARTE), which travels back 100 years in time to explore the rise and fall of the gay and lesbian movements in Central Europe.


“This project is a chance to shed light on the roots of Europe's modern queer movement and their struggle for acceptance and equality. The 20th century saw both remarkable progress and devastating setbacks when it came to LGBTQIA+ rights. We wanted to honor the courage and resilience of those who fought for their rights, as well as to raise awareness on the hate and bigotry that still persists to this day. The biographies featured in this project are unique, but their struggle is exemplary for so many others throughout the whole world,” adds Alexandra Wieser, producer of Pride and Persecution.

From Margarethe Csonka, who was sent to Sigmund Freud, played by renowned actor Karl Markovics, in an attempt by her father to get rid of her feelings for a Prussian baroness, to activists like Magnus Hirschfeld, whose movement was brutally dissolved by the Nazis. Their merciless persecution was recalled by Josef Kohout in his book “The Men with the Pink Triangle”, a key publication for gay and lesbian movements in the 1970s and 1980s.

About ORF-Enterprise

 

As a marketing subsidiary of ORF, ORF-Enterprise is exclusively responsible for marketing the leading Austrian media group’s entire national media output. The portfolio includes four television stations (ORF 1, ORF 2, ORF III Kultur und Information, ORF SPORT +), three national radio stations (Ö1, Hitradio Ö3, radio FM4), the print magazine ORF nachlese, the entire digital output on ORF.at, ORF-TVthek as well as ORF TELETEXT. The Content Sales International and Licensing and Media Cooperations division licences ORF content and brands worldwide. ORF-Enterprise operates its own music publishing house ORF-Enterprise Musikverlag as well as its own record label. The company is the national representative of leading international creative festivals such as Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and organiser of national advertising prizes such as ORF-TOP SPOT, ORF-WERBEHAHN and ORF-ONWARD. The management consists of Oliver Böhm (CEO, advertising marketing, content exploitation) and Heinz Mosser (finance and administration, music publishing & label, sound & vision, ORF nachlese). ORF-Enterprise is a 100 percent subsidiary of the ORF media group. More information at https://enterprise.ORF.at, https://contentsales.ORF.at and https://musikverlag.ORF.at

 

Please find here the full press release and adequate photo material for further use:

PRESS RELEASE UNIVERSUM History Showcase @ Sunny Side of the Doc 2023 (DOCX | 42 KB)
PHOTO 1 Oliver Böhm (JPG | 49 KB)
PHOTO 2 Armin Luttenberger (JPG | 988 KB)
PHOTO 3 Alexandra Wieser (JPG | 84 KB)
PHOTO 4 Copernicus' Secret ©Gebrüder Beetz (JPG | 5 MB)
PHOTO 5 AGE OF QUEENS ©Metafilm & IFAGE (JPG | 4 MB)
PHOTO 6 Clash of the Crown Princes ©epo film (JPG | 2 MB)
PHOTO 7 Pride and Persecution | Margarethe Csonka (right) (JPG | 3 MB)
PHOTO 8 UNIVERSUM History Showcase at Sunny Side of the Doc 2023 ©Hugo Lafitte (JPG | 9 MB)
PHOTO 8 UNIVERSUM History Showcase | Alexandra Wieser ©Hugo Lafitte (JPG | 10 MB)
PHOTO 8 UNIVERSUM History Showcase | Armin Luttenberger ©Hugo Lafitte (JPG | 10 MB)
PHOTO 9 UNIVERSUM History Showcase ©Hugo Lafitte (JPG | 8 MB)
PHOTO 10 UNIVERSUM History Showcase ©Hugo Lafitte (JPG | 5 MB)

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