“The skier Nicola Werdenigg gave an interview to the Standard in 2017, and as a result stimulated a kind of paradigm shift in terms of ski training and training conditions,” explains director Antonin Svoboda during the shooting in Vienna.
The title “Persona non grata” was chosen “because many postings followed the interview accurately, which were actually below the waistline. It was actually condemned that someone stood there and chatted from the private past and denounced things that are so brilliant following all.”
Setbesuch: Persona non grata
Former ski racer Nicola Werdenigg got things rolling in 2017: she spoke publicly regarding her negative experiences in skiing, regarding abuse of power and misuse. Other victims then came forward. Now her story is being made into a film.
Discourse and transparency as the goal
According to Svoboda, the point is not to “pee on the ski association”, but to tell and enlighten something from the past. “Because if, as a father of three daughters, I don’t have the feeling that a change is really taking place (…), I will never send my children to a sports club. I think the film will help people to say, okay, you can have this discourse. Transparency is a positive step in development – and we want to promote that with the film.”
Werdenigg is “fully behind it”
The film drama not only deals with the large system of associations, but also the small system of the family, says Svoboda – and of course the personal contact and the consequences of abuse. Nicola Werdenigg was asked for permission prior to production, knows every version of the script, has also been on the set and “is fully behind it”. In the film, however, her name is Andrea – and she is played by actress Gerti Drassl. “I don’t see it as a role at all,” says Drassl. “I see it as a task.”
The ex-ski racer’s daughter is played by the 27-year-old actress Maya Unger. “Metoo is an important topic and I don’t think it has even arrived in many areas. We’ve all heard regarding it, we all know the term, but I think there are many areas, especially in Austria, where a lot of work still needs to be done,” says Unger.
The film “Persona non grata” aims to help continue discussions and improve systems and is expected to hit theaters in 2023/2024.
