David Wagner (b. 1982) grew up in a suburb of Vienna. Already in the early 2000s, he was making films with a group of friends. Initially working in various roles within the film industry, he later pursued film studies at the NYU – Tisch School of Arts Summer School and completed a master’s degree in directing at the Hamburg Media School (2014-16). Since then, Wagner’s short films, often portraying unlikely characters, have been screened and awarded in numerous short film festivals, such as the Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival. His first feature film Eismayer premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, where it was awarded as the best film of the Critics’ Week.