Stealing Klimt (2007)
May 15, 2007Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Maria Altmann
Self
Michael J. Bazyler
Self
Hubertus Czernin
Self
Hubertus Czernin
Self
Elisabeth Gehrer
Self (archive footage)
Gerbert Frodl
Self
Jane Chablani
Director
Joseph Goebbels
Self (archive footage)
Martin Smith
Writer
Martin Smith
Writer
Adolf Hitler
Self (archive footage)
Willi Korte
Self
Sophie Lillie
Self
Chris Elliott
Composer
Jonathan Petropoulos
Self
Ulli Bonnekamp
Cinematographer
E. Randol Schoenberg
Self
Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Self (archive footage)
Monica Strauss
Self
Gottfried Toman
Self
Kurt Waldheim
Self (archive footage)
Tina Walzer
Self
Walter Ludwig
Transportation Coordinator
Roger Graef
Executive Producer
Bob Schuck
Sound
Tim Schwarzmaier
Executive Producer
Jane Bevan
Line Producer
Gilonne D'Origny
Executive Producer
Chris Elliott
Music
Simon Fanthorpe
Director of Photography
Bernhard Hoefer
Director of Photography
Shelagh Brady
Editor
Paul Dosaj
Editor
Judy Parkinson
Production Manager
Joseph Keppler
Sound
Hunter Moore
Sound
Roger Pietschmann
Sound
Niklas Tesch
Sound
Michelle Galvin
Production Coordinator
Details.
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.