When you hear the word piggy bank, you typically think of a small object with a slot where you can insert coins. When you need the money, you have to “break” the pig. The many metaphors contained in this word are taken to the extreme in this film. The director makes himself the (moral) piggy bank. He goes right up to the edge of embezzlement by spending the €90,000 he received from ORF for a documentary on a house in the Waldviertel that his wife Michaela desperately wants. However, he still needs to deliver a film, which logically now has to be a no-budget film. The director intends to film himself as he embarks on a year-long money strike. When the family goes on vacation in Carinthia, he walks there on foot. This is just one example of the many questions raised by his experiment. Right from the start, the film Sparschwein reveals itself as a mockumentary – an experiment with the documentary form while also serving as a satire. However, the satire unexpectedly takes a serious turn; the “free loader” becomes a climate activist, the frivolous money strike transforms into diverse activities ‘for future’, and in this role of acting and agitating against the apocalypse, despair lurks on the horizon as a real possibility.

Cast

himself
Christoph Schwarz
himself
Robert Stadlober
herself
Judith Revers
herself
Lisa Weber
Sparschwein - Poster 1

Piggy Bank

Christoph Schwarz

  • Fiction
Production Country / Year
Austria 2024
Language
de., en. OF ohne UT
Format
DCP, Color, 97min
1.90:1, Discrete 5.1
Original Title
Sparschwein

Director & Crew

Christoph Schwarz 1

Christoph Schwarz

Born in 1981 in Vienna/Austria. Studied Visual Media Design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Active as a director
and video artist.

Filmography

2010    SUPERCARGO, Kurzfilm
2011    GIFT ECONOMY WORKER, Kurzfilm
2012    RHODOPIA, Kurzfilm
2013    DER SENDER SCHLÄFT, Kurzfilm
2014    KROCHACARRALDO, Kurzfilm
    BEINGWHALE, Kurzfilm
    WINTERTHUR, Kurzfilm
2015    SUPERCARGO, Kurzfilm
2016    IBIZA, Kurzfilm
2017    LDAE, Kurzfilm
2018    CSL, Kurzfilm  HOF 2018
2019    DIE BESTE STADT IST KEINE STADT, Kurzfilm
2021    ICH WERDE NICHT DULDEN, DASS IHR
    MICH ALLEINE LASST, Kurzfilm
    WIESO ES GIBT 3019 EMOJIS, Kurzfilm
    CIVILIZATION, Kurzfilm  HOF 2021
2024    SPARSCHWEIN, Spielfilm   HOF 2024

Director of Photography
Georg Glück
Marie-Therese Zumtobel
Lukas Schöffel
Sonja Aufderklamm
Christian Schwab
Editor
Christian Schwab
Sound Designer
Matthias Peyker
Producer
Christoph Schwarz

News

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