Virgil Widrich

Screenwriter, film director, multimedia artist and professor of "Art & Science" at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. His short film "Copy Shop" was nominated for an Oscar. In total, his work has been awarded over 290 international awards. Virgil Widrich is involved in a variety of roles as project manager, conceptionalist, exhibition designer or artistic director in the creation of screenplays, short and feature films, music videos, installations, exhibitions and entire museums, as well as in international research projects.


News

01. October 2022 – 30. September 2025: University of Applied Arts Vienna University of Applied Arts, Member
On 1 October 2022 beginning of the fourth term as a main member and vice chair of the Senate of the University of Applied Arts Vienna until 30.9.2025.
20. February 2025 – 07. September 2025: Klimt. Pigment & Pixel – Rediscovering Art Through Technology
Together with Marc Schuran, design of the exhibition "Klimt. Pigment & Pixel – Rediscovering Art Through Technology," on view at the Lower Belvedere in Vienna from 20 February to 7 September 2025.
13. March 2025 – 02. November 2025: A Century in Pictures. Austria 1925–2025
Following "Image.Power.Politics" and "The Danube – A Journey into the Past," checkpointmedia, in collaboration with Nicole Stadler (Pop.Cut), is once again responsible for the graphic production of an exhibition in the State Hall of the Austrian National Library: "A Century in Pictures. Austria 1925–2025."
27. May 2025 – 01. June 2025: Fast Film Film screening
UnArchive Found Footage Fest – Rom – Italy
15. January 2026: Copy Shop
UAL Screening "Post Attitude" – ICA – London – United Kingdom

Klimt. Pigment & Pixel – Rediscovering Art Through Technology, 2025
The exhibition "Gustav Klimt. Pigment & Pixel" at the Belvedere Vienna combines art and technology, offering new insights into Klimt's painting techniques. checkpointmedia developed the exhibition design, where originals, technological analyses, and digital reconstructions are presented in three sections.

There is exactly enough time, 2021
Oskar Salomonowitz, the 12-year-old son of filmmakers Anja Salomonowitz and Virgil Widrich, had drawn 206 frames of a flip book when he died in an accident. Using the remaining blank sheets, his father continued drawing the film. Winner of 86 international film awards!

tx-reverse, 2018
A space time cut through cinema. 20 years after Martin Reinhart and Virgil Widrich used this film technique for the first time in a short film ("tx-transform", 1998), they again deal with the question of which previously unseen world arises when space and time are interchanged, aptly in a cinema and at full 360°. Winner of 39 international film awards!

Light Matter, 2018
A black-and-white film that lets you see colors. Winner of 13 international film awards!

tx-mirror, 2018
The interactive installation "tx-mirror" is a magical mirror with a camera: one can look at oneself and explore the laws of a universe in which time and space have been reversed.

Nena & Dave Stewart: Be my Rebel, 2017
"Be my rebel", the first collaboration of the two music legends Nena and Dave Stewart, premiered at Nena's 40th anniversary on stage. Winner of 47 international film awards!

Night of a 1000 Hours, 2016
A family, a night, a murder and a forbidden passion: When the Ullich family meets and their deceased ancestors appear, the events in their Viennese palace turn over.

checkpointmedia GmbH – Multimedia Productions, 2001
As one of the most successful representatives of "Creative Industries Vienna/Austria," checkpointmedia acts as an interface between arts/culture and the business world.

Fast Film, 2003
"Fast Film" is an animated homage to motion pictures, hand-made by folding 65,000 print outs of film frames into three-dimensional objects. The film won 35 international awards.

Copy Shop, 2001
The story of a man who copies himself until he fills up the entire world. The film won 43 international awards and was nominated for the Oscar 2001 (best short film).