Insults, humiliation, violence, sexual assault - the world behind the camera and the scenes can be a nightmare for many theater and film professionals. Apparently there is a real climate of fear in some film and theater productions. Some directors, but also well-known actors, apparently abuse their power and treat those around them on set or on stage with contempt or even abuse. Individual cases have been known for years, including under #metoo. But are they really isolated cases? Or can directors and actors allow themselves anything because the system allows it? In their three-year research, the documentary filmmakers spoke to more than 200 film and theater professionals about the problems in their industry. How much responsibility do the alleged perpetrators bear for abuse of power and how much responsibility does the financiers, production companies, broadcasters and also the audience bear?
Katharina Mückstein (born 1982) is an Austrian film director, screenwriter and producer. Narrative films Mückstein has written and directed include the short film The Reunion (2009), and the feature films Talea (2013), and L'Animale (2018). She also wrote and produced the documentaries Three Farmers and A Son (2016), and Animals and Other People (2017). She won the Austrian Film Award for Best Documentary for Three Farmers and A Son in 2017. In 2020, Mückstein directed the TV film Blind ermittelt – Zerstörte Träume. She also directed its two sequels released in 2022: Blind ermittelt – Tod im Prater, and Blind ermittelt – Die nackte Kaiserin. In 2023, Mückstein directed Feminism WTF, a documentary on feminism and gender equality. Description above from the Wikipedia article Katharina Mückstein, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.