Viennale 2009 – Commemorative Plaque and Gala in Vienna for Film Director

Austrian Press Agency (APA) (11/01/2009)

Vienna – One of the most successful European film directors in Hollywood, native born Austrian Fred Zinneman has been honored with a commemorative plaque placed on the building where he once resided in the Weyrgasse 9 in Vienna.

Zinnemanns son, Tim, was present at the unveiling of the plaque organized by the Association of Friends of Vienna’s Jewish Museum as well as by the City of Vienna. A gala presentation was dedicated to the great film maker within the framework of the Viennale.

Born in Vienna, Zinnemann emigrated in 1929 to the USA, where he worked as an assistant in stage direction, director of short films and soon as studio director. Zinneman became well known, above all, through his films, “People on Sunday” (1929), “From Here to Eternity” (1953) and “A Man for All Seasons” (1966).

Zinnemann, who received five Oscars and was nominated six different times, died in 1997 at the age of eighty-nine in London of a heart attack. At the gala in Vienna’s cinema Metrokino the film “The Men” (1950) with Marlon Brando was shown.