The Emperor Beneath the Mountain

18:30 min | 2016

Director: Evamaria Schaller
Production: Evamaria Schaller

Supported by the State of Salzburg – Culture

The Emperor Beneath the Mountain is an experimental film installation that merges performance art with artistic and documentary elements. It is based on the legend of Emperor Charlemagne, who is said to have died in 814. According to the myth, he now sleeps beneath the Untersberg mountain and awakens every hundred years to see whether the ravens are still circling above it. He is cared for by the “Untersberg Manderln.” If the ravens no longer fly, he will rise again—and the end of the world will begin. Mysterious female figures, Perchten, and the emperor himself merge into a surreal collage. The end of the world, in all its beauty.