AMS – Arbeit Muss Sein

Feature Film, AT 2026, DCP, 100 min, 21.3. OmeU + AD, 23.3. OmdU (CC)

At the age of 58, Marie (Margarethe Tiesel) can no longer find a job in today’s labor market and can barely manage to keep her footing. A woman with a migrant background, Mahdiya (Marian Hage), dreams of becoming a police office, but her AMS (Public Employment Service) caseworker Kathi (Marie-Luise Stockinger) simply cannot imagine it. Together with others affected by the system, Marie and Mahdiya take their fate into their own hands. What could have been a bleak social drama instead becomes a lively offbeat musical.

Presented by Radio FM4

Director: Sebastian Brauneis
Script: Sebastian Brauneis, Lily Ringler, Helmut Emersberger
Cast: Margarethe Tiesel, Lukas Watzl, Marie-Luise Stockinger, Isabella Knöll, Laura Hermann, Mariam Hage, Anton Noori, Martina Spitzer, Tania Golden, Simon Frühwirth, Sebastian Malfèr, Kseniia Korolchuk
Camera: Roman Chalupnik, Sebastian Brauneis
Editor: Paul Eckhart, Antonia Adelsberger, Sebastian Brauneis
Location Sound: Clara Köberl
Music: Christian Heschl
Sounddesign: Inanna Palikruschewa
Producers: Sebastian Brauneis
Production: Studio Brauneis
Funded by: BMWKMS – innovative film
FFW – Filmfonds Wien
Land Niederösterreich Kultur
ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen
ÖFI – Österreichisches Filminstitut
ÖFI+
Stadt Wien MA 7
Film Commission Graz
World Premiere: Diagonale '26
Production format: digital