In production. Completion December 2023. 52 Min
Script: Sarah Rathgeb, Caroline Wloka
Director: Sarah Rathgeb
Camera: Gerfried Guggi, Jonathan Hug
Editing: Claudia Linzer
Music: Hannes Gill
Producers: Esther van Messel, Hansjürgen Schmölzer
A coproduction of First Hand Films and BSX Schmölzer GmbH.
Women in the art business? As a male artists’ muse, perhaps… It wasn’t long ago that the business of art was a wholly male-dominated field; a tough, million-dollar industry dealing with power, politics, connections and sales. This film portrays five women who had to fight for the position they find themselves in today – navigating the business of art as a curator, gallery owner, patron or art house director. With a lot of self-confidence, humour and tenacity, the evaluation of the ugly and the beautiful is no longer confined to the perspective of men…
With a bit of irony, a critical approach and tact, this film offers its audience an insight into the microcosm that constitutes the world of art while maintaining a strong focus on today’s feminist values and the areas in which these two topics intersect. Building upon the opportunity to directly converse with multiple successful women in both Austria’s and Switzerland’s art industry – both places with the potential for a lot of capital to be made – we provide a unique and vital insight into ways female power is expressed in the business of art.
Whether equipped with a large budget for purchasing art while faced with corporate and compliance constraints, publicly managing museum operations, working as independent entrepreneur or the grande dame of patronage; all of our protagonists have managed to excel balancing the fine line between self-invention and positioning, conventional success and flexibility – combined with a healthy portion of punk rock and originality.
At exhibition preparations, trade fairs as well as auctions, during negotiations and meetings but also vernissages and celebrations, the industry presented itself to us in a visually appealing, emotionally exciting and economically captivating way, always hand in hand with a touch of humour, absurdity and even a little bit of self-mockery.
CONQUERING THE ART BUSINESS analyses, informs and entertains by showcasing a quintet of captivating female personalities – inviting the audience to see women and power in a new, colorful light.