Stealing Klimt (2007)
May 15, 2007Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.

Maria Altmann
Self

Michael J. Bazyler
Self

Hubertus Czernin
Self / Thanks

Gerbert Frodl
Self (archive footage)

Elisabeth Gehrer
Self (archive footage)

Joseph Goebbels
Self (archive footage)

Adolf Hitler
Self (archive footage)

Willi Korte
Self

Sophie Lillie
Self

Jonathan Petropoulos
Self

E. Randol Schoenberg
Self

Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Self (archive footage)

Monica Strauss
Self

Martin Smith
Writer

Gottfried Toman
Self

Kurt Waldheim
Self (archive footage)

Tina Walzer
Self

Chris Elliott
Composer

Roger Graef
Executive Producer

Bernhard Hoefer
Director of Photography

Simon Fanthorpe
Director of Photography

Ulli Bonnekamp
Director of Photography

Jane Chablani
Director

Martin Smith
Writer / Executive Producer

Jane Bevan
Line Producer

Gilonne D'Origny
Executive Producer

Tim Schwarzmaier
Executive Producer

Chris Elliott
Music

Shelagh Brady
Editor

Paul Dosaj
Editor

Judy Parkinson
Production Manager

Joseph Keppler
Sound

Hunter Moore
Sound

Roger Pietschmann
Sound

Bob Schuck
Sound

Niklas Tesch
Sound

Walter Ludwig
Transportation Coordinator

Michelle Galvin
Production Coordinator
Details.
Release DateMay 15, 2007
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 32m
Budget$320,000
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
Stealing Klimt is a 2007 documentary film about Maria Altmann's attempt to recover five Gustav Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in 1938, from Austria.
It formed the inspiration for the 2015 movie, Woman in Gold and received a credit to that effect ("Inspired by the documentary, Stealing Klimt").
The paintings included Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, the portrait of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, which had been renamed the Woman in Gold. Stealing Klimt recounts Altmann's youth in early 20th century Vienna, her escape from the Nazis and her struggle to recover the five paintings.
Altmann selected Randol Schoenberg, a Californian lawyer with an Austrian background, to represent her in her legal quest to recover the five Klimts. Altmann and Schoenberg were assisted by Hubertus Czernin, an Austrian journalist who had previously investigated and revealed the World War II activities of Kurt Waldheim, former President of Austria and UN Secretary General.
Altmann's legal battle eventually ended up in the US Supreme Court where she had to face not only Austria but also the US State Department.
The US Supreme Court gave jurisdiction over Austria and an Austrian arbitration panel then decided that the five paintings belonged to her. Ronald Lauder paid $135 million for the Woman in Gold to hang in his Neue Galerie in New York. The other paintings were sold through Christie's to private buyers.