Ernst Schmidt jr.

Ernst Schmidt jr. (1938 in Lower Austria, 1988 in Vienna) studied film at the Vienna Academy of Music and Performing Arts and began making his first independent films in the early 1960s. He published for cinema magazines in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and wrote numerous theoretical works including an encyclopedia on avant-garde, experimental and underground film, co-authored with Hans Scheugl. His multifaceted oeuvre includes 76 titles, ranging from experimental documentary, material film, expanded cinema, compilation film, to Lettrist text- and feature length dramatic film. Schmidt jr. was in close contact with many contemporary artists of the avant-garde and Viennese Actionism, which is reflected not only aesthetically in his films, but also in his cooperative way of filmmaking.