Birgit Minichmayr (born 3 April 1977) is an Austrian actress born in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, Austria. She studied drama at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. For her work in

Maren Ade Maren Ade (; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she ...

's film Everyone Else she won

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the fil ...

at 59th Berlin International Film Festival. She is the only Austrian actress to win this award in history of the festival and the first Austrian actress to win best actress award at a major European film festival (

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) since 1956. She worked with several major European directors including

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, Ge ...

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The Sto ...

and

Jessica Hausner Jessica Hausner (born 6 October 1972) is an Austrian film director and writer, and a professor at Filmacademy Vienna. Early life Jessica Hausner is the daughter of Viennese painter Rudolf Hausner, sister of costume designer Tanja Hausner and ...

Career

Minichmayr had her first break with the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

in Vienna, where she appeared in numerous plays, including ''Der Reigen'' by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

(staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf), ''Troilus and Cressida'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(staging by Declan Donnellan) and ''Der Färber und sein Zwillingsbruder'' by Johann Nestroy (staged by Karlheinz Hackl). She made her cinema debut in 2000 as Barbara Brecht in

Jan Schütte Jan Schütte (born 26 June 1957) is a German film director and screenwriter. He has directed twelve films since 1982. His film ''The Farewell (2000 film), The Farewell'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festiv ...

's '' Abschied'', playing alongside Josef Bierbichler and

Monica Bleibtreu Monica Bleibtreu (; 4 May 1944 – 13 May 2009) was an Austrian-German actress and screenwriter, best known in the German-speaking world for her film, television and stage roles. Life and career Bleibtreu was born in Vienna, Austria, the daugh ...

. In 2000, Minichmayr appeared in

Peter Sämann Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

's television thriller (in the ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

'' series), "Böses Blut". She was awarded the Austrian Nestroy Prize for "Best Young Talent" in 2000. In 2006 she played Mizzi Kasper, one of the lovers from Crownprince Rudolf in the movie '. A year later, Minichmayr played the fool in Luc Bondy's acclaimed staging of Shakespeare's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', always at the Burgtheater. Minichmayr currently lives in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and Vienna. She speaks English and has acted in several international and English language productions. Among the directors she worked with were

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungary, Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian language, Hungarian- ...

, Götz Spielmann,

Oliver Hirschbiegel Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 29 December 1957) is a German film director. His works include and the Oscar-nominated film about Adolf Hitler, '' Downfall''. Early life and education Oliver Hirschbiegel was born in Hamburg, West Germany on 29 Dece ...

, Robert Dornhelm, and Doris Dörrie. She is also an accomplished vocalist, and has been recorded several times, though she has always made acting her primary focus. At the 59th Berlin International Film Festival 2009 Minichmayr was awarded the

for her performance in

's ''Alle Anderen'' ( Everyone Else).

Filmography

Awards

* 2000: Nestroy Prize for Best Young Talent * 2004/2009: Nestroy Prize for Best Actress * 2009: 59th Berlin International Film Festival, Best Actress for Everyone Else * 2010: German Film Awards, Nomination Best Actress for Everyone Else * 2015: Blow-Up International Arthouse Film Festival, Nomination for Best Actress – Monica Vitti Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minichmayr, Birgit Austrian film actresses 1977 births Actresses from Linz Living people Shakespearean actresses Austrian stage actresses Silver Bear for Best Actress winners 21st-century Austrian actresses 21st-century Austrian women singers Austrian television actresses