Biography
Severin Fiala was born in 1985 in Horn, Austria. His uncle is the filmmaker Ulrich Seidl. Fiala studied screenwriting at the Vienna Film Academy, where, in 2009, he and Ulrike Putzer created their first film, "Elefantenhaut" ("Elephant Skin"). This 34-minute short tells the story of a factory worker who cares for her constantly nagging mother and unexpectedly falls in love with a colleague. "Elefantenhaut" premiered at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in 2009, earned strong reviews, and won the Ecumenical Jury Prize. It went on to screen at other festivals and received additional accolades.
Fiala's feature film debut came through a collaboration with Veronika Franz on "Kern" (Austria, 2012), a documentary about Austrian writer and filmmaker Peter Kern. Franz's then-partner, Ulrich Seidl, produced the film, having worked with Franz on numerous screenplays since 2001. "Kern" was shown at film festivals in Chicago, San Sebastián, and elsewhere.
In 2013, Fiala worked with Valentin Fiala, Nikolaus Eckhard, and Klaus Haidl on "The End of Walnut Grove," a half-hour film that premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.
Fiala's career grew especially through his close collaboration with Veronika Franz in subsequent years. Their first full-length feature, the psychological horror film "Ich seh, ich seh" ("Goodnight Mommy," Austria, 2015), premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won numerous awards over the following years, including the Silver Grand Prize and Best European Film Award at the 2024 Sitges Film Festival in Spain, the FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2014, the Vienna Film Prize at the 2015 Viennale, and the Grand Prize at the 2015 Diagonale in Graz. At the 2016 Austrian Film Awards, Fiala and Franz received the awards for Best Feature Film (alongside producer Ulrich Seidl) and Best Director. They also earned a European Film Award nomination for Best First Feature Film for the thriller. An American remake of the film with Naomi Watts in the role of the mother was released in 2022.
Fiala and Franz continued with "The Lodge" (2019), a British-American horror film in a similar intimate setting. It premiered in January 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. They later directed two episodes for the American mystery series "Servant" (2022/23).
Starting in 2020, they worked on another feature film, again from an original script: "Des Teufels Bad" ("The Devil's Bath," Austria/Germany, 2024). Set in the 18th century, this film combines character study with village horror. It competed at the 2024 Berlinale, where cinematographer Martin Gschlacht won a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution. At the Austrian Film Awards, "Des Teufels Bad" earned eleven nominations and won in eight categories, including Best Feature Film (produced by Ulrich Seidl), Best Cinematography, and Best Actress (Anja Plaschg). The film was released in Germany in November 2024.