# Felix Rier

> Freelance documentary filmmaker, DOP (director of photography) and sound technician based in the Italian Alps (South Tyrol). Works across Central and Southern Europe.

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## About

Felix Rier was born and raised in the Italian Alps and moved to Berlin in 2016, where he trained as a media designer for image and sound, working in the camera department as a camera assistant, junior DOP and sound technician. From 2019 to 2022 he studied camera and lighting at ZeLIG - School for Documentary Film in Bolzano. Since then he has worked mainly as a freelance director of photography and sound technician for feature documentaries, with a strong interest in films that tackle socially relevant topics and have a distinctive visual language.

As a child he was already fascinated by documenting the world around him, as shown by old VHS recordings in which he curiously interviews his parents. He went on to cut his first videos to Red Hot Chili Peppers music, before discovering landscape and time-lapse photography in his teenage years. When he later discovered climbing and adventure photography, this passion became his main focus, leading him to move to Berlin in 2016 for a dual training program in film, where his interest gradually shifted towards artistic documentary filmmaking. A formative experience was working as sound recordist on Hannes Lang's short film RIAFN, which took him through the Alps for an entire summer. After his training, he returned to South Tyrol to study camera and lighting at ZeLIG - School for Documentary Film. Since 2022 he has worked as a freelance cinematographer and sound technician for feature documentaries.

Portrait photography by Tiberio Sorvillo.

## Selected Works

### DESPITE THE SCARS (2025)
Feature documentary. Role: Director, DOP. Production: helios sustainable films.
Winner at Biografilm Festival 2025 and Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2026.
In her quest to recover from a brutal gang rape, Thea turns to dance as a means of healing her emotional and physical trauma. As she embraces a new relationship and the joy of motherhood with the birth of her son, Thea is faced with the challenging question of whether true healing is ever attainable.
Website: https://www.despitethescars.com/

### WOLKENFABRIK (Cloud Factory)
Documentary. Role: DOP. Director: Hannes Lang. Production: helios sustainable films.
An experimental exploration of the sky above the Rhenish coal mining region, where emission-enriched air masses ascend into the atmosphere to transform the climate. What can these anthropogenic clouds tell us about our future? And what kind of castles can we build in this air?

### La Valanga Azzurra (2024)
Documentary. Role: Sound engineer. Director: Giovanni Veronesi. Production: Fandango.
Traces the unrepeatable story of the Italian national Alpine skiing team of the 1970s, led by legendary coach Mario Cotelli and captained by champions such as Gustavo Thoeni and Piero Gros — five World Cups, and numerous Olympic and World Championship medals.
https://visionario.movie/films/la-valanga-azzurra/

### Gefährlich nah - Wenn Bären töten / Leben mit den Bären (2023)
Documentary. Role: Sound engineer. Directors: Andreas Pichler, Beatrice Segolini. Production: Miramonte Film di Andreas Pichler SAS.
In April 2023, a 26-year-old jogger is killed by a bear in Trentino - 25 years after the animals were reintroduced to the northern Italian region. As bears are subsequently spotted in Germany and Austria and fear grows, the dispute escalates in Trentino between animal rights activists and locals who want the reintroduction undone.

### Corte (2022)
Short film. Role: 1st AC (camera assistant). Director: Magdalena Mitterhofer. Production: Mediaart Production Coop.
Six millennials meet the renowned writer Noel Riccardi in an old workers' settlement in the Italian Alps. A friendly evening of food and discussion turns heated when political differences trigger a generational conflict, and tensions peak in an act of violence.
https://www.crew-united.com/de/Corte__317072.html

### ein mann zu sein
Short film. Role: Director, DOP, editor. Production: ZeLIG.
He is not the offender and yet he feels guilty. A young man hears about a crime of sexualized violence against a close friend and feels morally responsible because of his gender. From the perspective of a discouraged man, the film searches for words to describe the unpleasant feeling of being a man.
https://trentofestival.it/en/archives/2021/ein-mann-zu-sein/

### THE INNER CONNECTION (2021)
Web clip. Role: Director, DOP.
Born out of love for film, dance and music, representing the spirit that brought a group of artists together to realize a no-budget project, united by an illusionary light installation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_SP0qyY6sc

### RIAFN!
Documentary. Role: Sound engineer. Director: Hannes Lang. Production: Petroliofilm GmbH.
A cinematic journey into the soundscape of the Alps between artistic ideal and documentarian realism.
https://www.dmff.eu/de/filme/riafn/

### UN BLEU TRÈS SOMBRE
Role: DOP. Director: Kaspar Panizza. Production: ZeLIG.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxHuhkNIHwE

### When I Dance, The World Trembles (2019)
Short film. Role: Lighting technician. Director: Otto Reuschel. Production: Zero Stress Prod.
A curious camera follows its protagonists in a one-take through the hustle and bustle of Berlin-Kreuzberg at dawn.
https://filmfreeway.com/WhileIdancetheEarthtrembles

### Far Away
Web clip. Role: Director, DOP, editor (with Simon Mayrl).
The excessive demands of society force a young man to escape into a remote cabin in the woods, where he discovers a useless piece of wood and, in this new environment, a new personality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ysJz39mY0

### Kollegen
Short film. Role: 1st AC. Director: Jannis Alexander Kiefer. Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.
As part of their daily routine, two German craftsmen build a concentration camp for a foreign film production company — how (un)political can a setting be?
https://www.filmuniversitaet.de/film/filmdatenbank/film/fdb/kollegen

### Prolog einer Besetzung
Short film. Role: 2nd AC. Director: Maximilian Högemann. Production: Cinema Informel.
"You don't become an actress, you are an actress!" A look at the loveless waiting caves of castings, full of energetic competition and restless assistance.
https://vimeo.com/321189459

### Avec Plaisir
Short film. Role: 2nd AC. Director: Pascal Schuh. Production: Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf.
Outside a brasserie, the classic tango of an old accordion player and the techno beats of a young DJ clash — until listening and mutual respect bring the two musicians together in a new song.

### Köstritzer Fresh Talents
Role: Sound engineer. Director: Christian Lang. Production: Lang & Lenner.
https://www.koestritzer.de/fuer-fans/fresh-talents

### Weil alles dort begann... (2018)
Short film. Role: 2nd AC. Director: Maximilian Högemann. Production: Cinema Informel.
Freddy has already tried four times to convince tough Sarah — with a comic series of failed attempts, and one last try.
https://www.crew-united.com/de/Weil-alles-dort-begann__255931.html

### Nicht schon wieder an die Ostsee | Sven van Thom
Role: 2nd AC. Director: Patrick Wallochny. Production: Ohne Falsch Film Freistühler & Wallochny GbR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJB4yZjeFjc

### Jeder meiner Fehler (2017)
Role: 2nd AC. Director: Jan Josef Liefers. Production: RADIO DORIA FILM GmbH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPAQCP8Qg4

### Limonextrem Skyrace
Role: Cameraman. Director: Philipp Moravetz. Production: Giafatto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXglxSM7sIE

## Library (additional work)
- Aaron Timpone - Hungover Thoughts — web clip, director/DOP/editor — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL1u2pxJaqs
- Got It - Live & Talk — web clip, director/DOP/editor — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgO0XdY8vOY
- Lo Spreco (8c+) — web clip, director/DOP/editor — https://vimeo.com/281869559
- Nicht schon wieder an die Ostsee! | Sven van Thom — web clip, camera assistance — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJB4yZjeFjc
- Radio Dora - Jeder meiner Fehler — web clip, director/DOP/editor — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK3272ZS2_Y
- Kimonextreme Skyrace 2017 — web clip, camera assistance — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkFbhStJiz0

## Curriculum
- 2019-2022: ZeLIG - School for Documentary Film, Bolzano (camera and lighting)
- 2017-2020: UFO Filmgeraet GmbH
- 2016-2017: Film Deluxe GmbH, Berlin (training as media designer for image and sound)
- 2012-2016: WFO H.Kunter (commercial secondary school)

## Photography
Analog and digital photography — images of people, nature, and the fleeting moments that connect them. Each image, a moment in itself.
- https://www.felixrier.com/fotos/

## Contact
- Email: felix.rier@gmail.com
- Phone: +39 377 343 4625
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/felixrier

## Languages / Site versions
- Deutsch: https://www.felixrier.com/
- English: https://www.felixrier.com/en/
- Italiano: https://www.felixrier.com/it/

## Pages
- Home: https://www.felixrier.com/
- Films: https://www.felixrier.com/films/
- Photography: https://www.felixrier.com/fotos/
- About: https://www.felixrier.com/about/
- Legal notice: https://www.felixrier.com/impressum/