Nikolaus GEYRHALTER

Born 1972 in Wien, Austria
Based in Wien, Austria

Documentary filmmaker. Founded the production company Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion (NGF) in 1994. Together with editor Wolfgang Widerhofer and others he produces mainly documentaries for the big screen and television with a strong and innovative style. Many of his films have dealt with the most critical aspects of modern civilization, including Our Daily Bread (2005), the first of his films to screen in Japan, which examines food production companies; Pripyat (1995), which looks at conditions in and around Chernobyl 12 years after the nuclear accident there; and Abendland (2011), which sheds light on the mechanical systems that operate behind the scenes in contemporary society.

HOMO SAPIENS, Geyrhalter focuses on places that have become ruins yet still show signs that humans once lived there around the world. Eschewing narration altogether, the film quietly inquires into what remains at sites vacated by humans and what it means to be human. These unpopular, long-abandoned places are gradually being restored by nature and are also filled with a mysterious vitality.