VICTORIA HALPER
DIRECTOR | ACTOR | VIDEO & MEDIA ARTIST | PRODUCER
Now or soon:
Early 2024
Residency at the Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe for:
Mid '24/"[EOL]. End of Life"
<VR> a DARUM and brut Wien coproduction (Vienna, Austria)
More Info >> www.darum.at
Artistic direction | Story | Videos | Research | Performance
Brooklyn Film Festival--USA - June 3rd, 2024 /"The tightrope walker with his daughter on his shoulders crossing the Danube Canal at a height of 40 metres" <FILM> an experimental film
Directing | Editing
Avaiable online until 2031
anytime/"404-TOTLINK" <INTERNET> a hyperlink installation available in german online (World)
Artistic direction | Text | Videos | Programming | Research | Graphics | Producing
Preproduction
Premiere September '24/"[EOL]. End of Life" <VR> a DARUM
and brut Wien coproduction (Vienna, Austria)
April/May '25/"Alle Lust" (Working Title) <PERFORMANCE> a DARUM performative installation (Vienna, Austria)
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About me:
Born 1988 in Toronto.
Canadian/Austrian Transnational. 2nd daughter of a carpenter/electrician and a secretary, both immigrants.
Studied Acting and Directing at the University of Toronto.
Received her Honours BA with Distinction and got on plane emigrating to Vienna in 2010.
Assisted directors at Volkstheater Wien, Schauspielhaus Graz, Raimundspiele Gutenstein and Landestheater Niederösterreich (Ingo Berk, Sabine Derflinger, Rupert Henning, Sandy Lopičić, Enrico Lübbe, Alia Luque, Hakan Savaş Mican, Simon Windisch, Sarantos Zervoulakos...)
Worked part-time as a video editor for video2brain/LinkedIn.
Started directing, acting in, editing and producing theatre and films while living in Linz, Austria (2013-2016). Productions included the Austrian Premieres of "East of Berlin" by Hannah Moscovitch & "Bitch Boxer" by Charlotte Josephine and her debut mid-length feature film "Kommissar Taler", which won Best Ensemble at the Upper Austria in Film Festival. Victoria was awarded the Cultural Medal from the city of Traun for her work in the region.
Moved back to Vienna in 2016.
Kick-start with the Newcomer Scholarship for Performing Arts from the Austrian Federal Chancellery 2018.
Experimentation with new forms, styles and technology: Essay performances ("Dad Left"), Contemporary circus ("Lustvoll" and "Debris"), immersive theatre, performative installations, video art, experimental film, web art and playful forms of gamified theatre in public spaces (Play:Vienna).
Along with director Kai Krösche, Victoria creates interdisciplinary and experimental art under the label of DARUM. The FALTER newspaper's Top 10 of 2018, the immersive performative installation "Uninvited Guests" and the hybrid documentary film "Exit: Open" were each nominated for the NESTROY in 2019 and 2020. In 2021 the Impulse Theater Festival in Cologne, Germany featured DARUMs web-based hyperlink installation "404-TOTLINK" - this project is available online for the next 10 years (at least).
As film editor and producer, her work has been invited to various film festivals around the globe. "Exit: Open" premiered at the Hof International Film Festival in Germany. "Kommissar Taler" celebrated its International Premiere in Rome, Italy. The short film "Gegenschein" which, she also stars in, will be premiered at the 39th Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival and was screened at the Five Lakes Film Festival Bavaria, Festival of Nations Upper Austria, Filmets Badalona Spain and Minikino Bali Indonesia.
Her most recent productions in 2022 were directed with Kai Krösche under the label of DARUM: "Letzter Aufguss" (Final Infusion), an immersive site-specific labyrinth filled with the ghosts of Germany's past, co-produced with Schauspiel Leipzig, and performed at the abandoned Stasi Sauna in Leipzig. Their third Viennese production, "Heimweh" (Homesick), which dealt with the decades-long structural crimes against thousands of children and young adults in both church and municipal children's homes in Austria, was deemed one of the 10 most outstanding productions of 2022 by FALTER and the virtual Nachtkritik-Theatertreffen and garnered his third nomination and first win for the Special Award at the 2023 NESTROYs.
2023 marks a year with more experimentation in film and video art: Her debut experimental film "Floating Flies" premiered at the Diagonale '23 in Graz and celebrated its international premiere at the renowed Seattle International Film Festival in the USA. In June she performed in and was responsible for the video installations in the mulitmedia 'no escape room' "Linie Q" (directed by: Kai Krösche; written by: Emre Akal & James Stanson). In November, the multimedia experiemental circus production "Eisemann" will premiere at the On the Edge Festival in Theater am Werk Vienna, Austria directed with her long-time collaboration partner Kai Krösche, she also filmed and edited the accompaning video art.
Late Fall, she will be embarking on an international residency grant supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art at the "Zentrum für Kunst und Medien" in Karlsruhe, Germany to research VR and Metaverses for DARUM's upcoming projects as part of their 2-year grant from the city of Vienna.
Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Twitter / ORF-Portrait (2015)
Artistic Work (full):
View or download my full CV here
Artistic Work (most recent):
2024
"[EOL]. End of Life" <VR> a DARUM and brut Wien coproduction (Vienna, Austria)
Directing | Story | Videos | Research | Performance
A DARUM and brut Wien Coproduction; Development supported by the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany.
"The tightrope walker with his daughter on his shoulders crossing the Danube Canal at a height of 40 metres" <FILM> an experimental film
Directing | Editing | Camera
* World Premiere at Brooklyn Film Festival (USA)
2023
"Eisemann" <PERFORMANCE> an multimedia-experimental circus performance
Directing | Video Installations
Debut production of the On The Edge Festival with Theater am Werk (Vienna, Austria)
"Linie Q" <PERFORMANCE> a no escape room; written by Emre Akal & James Stanson; directed by Kai Krösche
Video Installations | Performance
A WUK performing arts coproduction
"Floating Flies" <FILM> an experimental film
Directing | Performance | Text | Editing | Camera | Producing
A DARUM production
* World Premiere at the Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film (Austria)
* Official Selection at Seattle (International Premiere), Brooklyn (USA), Montecatini (Italy), Canberra (Australia), Brussels (Belgium), Ribalta (Italy), art+film+vienna (Austria)
* Semi-Finalist at Flickers' Rhode Island (USA)
2022
"Heimweh" <PERFORMANCE> a performative installation in 3 attempts, engl. title "Homesick"
Directing | Video Installations | Performance | Research
A DARUM and WUK performing arts coproduction
* NESTROY Nomination 2023 for the Special Award (Austria)
* Virtual nachtkritik-Theatertreffen Top 10 (Germany)
* Falter Top 10 in 2022 (Austria)
"Letzter Aufguss" <PERFORMANCE> a site-specific performative installation, engl. title "Final Infusion"
Directing | Video Installations | Research
A coproduction by Schauspiel Leipzig and DARUM
2021
"Herostrat" by Jean-Paul Sartre <STAGE> Directed by Kai Krösche
Acting
In cooperation with WERK X-Petersplatz
"404-TOTLINK" <INTERNET> web-based hyperlink installation
Artistic direction | Text | Videos | Programming | Research | Graphics | Producing
A DARUM and Impulse Theater Festival coproduction
2020
"Ausgang: Offen" / "Exit: Open" <FILM> performative installation turned experimental documentary film
Directing | Performance | Editing & Colour Correction | Research | Text | Producing
Feature length film, 98 Minutes, 4K 50fps, AT.
A DARUM and WUK performing arts coproduction
* NESTROY Nomination 2020 for the Special Corona Award (Austria)
* World Premiere at the 54th Hof International Film Festival (Germany)
* Official Selection at the 15th Five Lakes Film Festival (Germany)
* Official Selection "Frame Extended" at the 26th Split Film Festival (Croatia)
"Gegenschein" by James Stanson <FILM> Directed by Kai Krösche & Kolja Burgschuld
Acting | Editing & Colour Correction | Producing
Short Film, 15 Minutes, Drama, 4K, AT.
* World Premiere at the 15th Five Lakes Film Festival (Germany)
* Official Selection at Festival of Nations (Lenzing, Austria), Minikino Filmweek (Bali, Indonesia), Filmets (Badalona, Spain)
"Ungebetene Gäste: Was Bleibt?" <STAGE> Remount+Revision / engl. Title: "Uninvited Guests: What's Left?"
Artistic direction | Text | Performance | Videos | Research | Producing
A lecture performance by DARUM in cooperation with WERK X-Petersplatz, Premiered October 16th
"Alt. Ein Robotermusicial" by bum bum pieces <STAGE> Directed by: Simon Windisch
Acting
A play with live music. Premiered January 12th at the WUK Projektraum
Invited to the 2021 SHÄXPIR Festival in Linz, Upper Austria.
"Die Sieder von Süd-Wien" <INTERNET/PERFORMANCE> playful city performance with and for citizens in 3 Viennese neighbourhoods
Artistic contribution | Research
A coproduction by Play:Vienna and Werk X, funded by SHIFT III
2019
"Ungebetene Gäste" and "Ungebetene Gäste: Was Bleibt?", <PERFORMANCE/STAGE> performative installation and lecture performance / engl. titles "Uninvited Guests" and "Uninvited Guests: What's Left?"
Artistic direction | Text | Performance | Videos | Research | Producing
A search for clues and lecture performance by DARUM in cooperation with WERK-X Petersplatz
* NESTROY Nomination 2019 for the Special Corona Award (Austria)
* Falter Top 10 in 2019 (Austria)
* Official Selection for the 2020 Impulse Theater Festival (Germany)
"Dad Left" <STAGE> an essay performance about leaving and not coming back
Directing | Acting | Text | Videos | Producing
In cooperation with WERK X-Petersplatz, premiered on May 23rd
"Debris" <STAGE> by Victoria Halper and Kai Krösche
Directing & Devising | Producing
A contemporary circus production by Momomento, Premiered in November at the Fabrik Seestadt, Vienna.
2018
"Lustvoll" <STAGE> a performance about lust
Directing & Devising
A contemporary circus production by Momomento, Premiered mid-September at Theater Oberzeiring (Festival of Premieres).
Additional performances at Kristallwerk Graz and Theater Brett Vienna
"Zukunftsbüro" <PERFORMANCE> a performance festival about the future
Idea & performance "Back your happiness" | Performance "If I were mayor..."
A project by the Landestheater Niederösterreich and makemake productions all over St. Pölten, Lower Austria.
"Arschgesicht" <FILM> a music video by Herr Magister
Editing
Music video, 3:56 minutes, 4K, ES/AT.
Visuals:
Contact Info/Imprint:
Victoria Halper
Löblichgasse 6/16
1090 Vienna
Austria
+43 664 3186191
@victoriahalper
