Andreas Prochaska

Andreas Prochaska (born December 31, 1964, in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and film editor. He grew up in Bad Ischl and later moved to Vienna to study journalism and theatre studies, though he did not complete his degree. In 1985 he began working in the film industry as an assistant to director Paulus Manker and gained practical experience across multiple departments, including sound design, directing, production, and editing for both film and television.

Prochaska first worked as a co-editor on the *Tatort* episode *Flucht in den Tod* (1987) and as an editing assistant on Wolfram Paulus’ film *Nachsaison* (1988). He later collaborated with director Michael Haneke, initially as an editing assistant on *Benny’s Video* (1992) and *71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance* (1994), before serving as editor on *The Castle* (1997), *Funny Games* (1997), and *Code Unknown* (2000).

He made his directorial debut in 1998 with *The Three Post Robbers*, an adaptation of the children’s novel by Christine Nöstlinger, which became a success at the Austrian box office. After directing several television films and series episodes, he turned to the horror genre with *Dead in 3 Days* (2006), a slasher film notable for having its cast speak in Austrian dialects. The film’s success led to a sequel two years later.

In 2010, Prochaska directed his first comedy, *The Unintentional Kidnapping of Mrs. Elfriede Ott*, which won the inaugural Austrian Film Award in 2011 and earned him the prize for Best Screenplay. He received the Bavarian Television Award and an International Emmy Award in 2012 for directing the television film *A Day for a Miracle* (*Das Wunder von Kärnten*).

His Western thriller *The Dark Valley* (2014) brought him the Bavarian Film Award for Best Director in 2013 and won eight German Film Awards in 2014, with Prochaska nominated for Best Director.

He lives in Purkersdorf near Vienna with his wife Astrid, an art therapist, and their four sons. His son Daniel Prochaska is also a film editor and director.