Cinema Povero

Dr. H. owns a multi-million-dollar property in the heart of Vienna. He inherited it from his aunt, who wasn’t really his aunt. Dr. H. is melancholy and wouldn’t mind putting an end to his life, if it weren’t for his brother B., who isn’t really his brother. Dr. H. tells how, with the help of a veterinarian, he brought B. out of a coma resulting from cardiac arrest, and how B. helped him get the building from his so-called aunt. Dr. H. has set up a charitable foundation that will begin operations after he dies. The filmmaker decides to intervene.

Frau Maria is the last employee of Stastny Fabrics, a shop in the former textile district in the heart of Vienna. While she prepares bales of fabric for the clearance sale in premises that have gone unchanged for decades, she tells of better times, when business flourished and work was a pleasure. She removes the company nameplate and locks the shop for the last time: With it a part of Vienna’s Jewish history disappears.