“If you want to subvert a conservative right-wing audience, the arthouse cinema is the wrong place”
– The Austrian producer thinks documentary can change minds, but that requires knowing precisely who you are talking to
A graduate of Film Academy Vienna, King’s College London, and Berlinale Talents, ostblok producer Dominic Spitaler has had his short films screened at festivals such as Sundance, Karlovy Vary IFF, PÖFF Black Nights, and Max Ophüls. His graduation film Topfpalmen earned a nomination for Germany’s prestigious First Steps Award. His co-produced debut feature Jimmie [+see also:
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Why do you produce documentaries? Do you see documentary cinema as an instrument of social and political change?
Dominic Spitaler: I stumbled into the documentary form because a friend of mine from film school had a great idea for one and we thought it would be easier to finance than a feature. I appreciate the documentary process because it constructs a film out of reality, while fiction sort of imposes its idea of the world onto it. At the same time, I’m ambivalent about the documentary claim to reality, since what is presented is ultimately just as subjective as fiction: only fiction makes no such pretence.
I believe documentary cinema can change minds if it is able to introduce a thought that is genuinely something new for its audience. But that requires knowing precisely who you are talking to. If you want to subvert a conservative right-wing audience, the arthouse cinema is the wrong place. And I don’t want to preach to the choir, which is why I look for issues that confront the liberal, left-leaning audiences most likely to watch my films.
The form matters: it can’t be too overtly political. The film needs to create a space where people can lower their ideological defences rather than reinforce them. This is where I think it differs from pure journalism.
I like self-reflective cinema but there is also great activist cinema: In Austria we just had a small box office sensation with Olga Kosanović’s Far from Being Lipizzans which addresses the absurd barriers to citizenship and the fact that nearly a fifth of our population is excluded from democratic participation.
How do you achieve and maintain work-life balance and foster overall well-being?
I’ve noticed, both in colleagues and in myself, that we are ashamed to allow ourselves real breaks, and instead drift into endless meetings or work lunches that function as socially acceptable pauses.
Hustle culture is very real, and I don’t think it’s particularly productive: the work tends to suffer if you don’t allow yourself enough time to recharge. You can’t cheat your own resources for long: the body will eventually take what it needs anyway. I had to learn that the hard way seven years ago, when I pushed myself beyond my limits and ended up taking several months off from filmmaking. It wasn‘t worth it.
Nowadays, when I’m not shooting, I turn off all phone notifications as I get home in the evening. I don’t (always) work on weekends, I do sports twice a week, I love to cook and spend time with friends who don’t work in film but do truly important things, which helps me keep some perspective. It’s all very healthy and, admittedly, very boring.
Where do you find audiences for your films?
I think they are all on TikTok. The problem is how to get them off. That’s why I look for catchy topics, pitches and titles that invite people in rather than putting them off. I’m actively searching for artistic voices with a bit of a wider appeal that seek, in some way perhaps, to entertain: that make you laugh, cry or fall in love. That’s what life is about. Not scrolling.
What projects do you have underway (including fiction films and other projects)?
This year we will release My Friend the Porn Star, a playful and compassionate hybrid documentary directed by Karlovy Vary alumni Rosa Friedrich about her friend Timo who wants to star in a sex film. We think it will spark interesting discussions also for its use of AI.
And we will start shooting Sundance kid Jasmin Baumgartner’s debut feature Sentimental Fail Club. It’s an imaginative and musical journey through teenage eyes into the abyss of the adult world, featuring an all-star ensemble cast including Aaron Altaras and Luna Wedler.
If luck and politics permit, we will also make progress on two other projects I am very passionate about: Return to Riesa – a heartbreaking gay romance and an invitation to think about the limits of origin, identity and social milieus, to be directed by Swiss LGBTQ legend Marcel Gisler. And Pregxit by ÖFI Talent Lab talent Naima Noelle Schmidt – a lightweight comedy about a woman’s right to choose and what motherhood has meant to three generations of emancipated women.
And I want to make a documentary about people who murder trees.
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EMERGING PRODUCERS is a leading promotional and educational project, which brings together talented European documentary film producers. The programme is organised and curated by the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.
Deadline for applications to the EMERGING PRODUCERS 2027 edition is 31st March 2026.
