Cornelia Rainer has been directing productions in Theater and Opera in Austria and internationally since 2007, including at the Burgtheater Vienna, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Salzburg Festival, Wien Modern Festival, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Avignon Festival, and Centre Dramatique National de Normandie Rouen. Her productions have received widespread praise and awards. Her artistic work also extends into film. In 2023, her first medium-length film “Gil und Dole” was longlisted at the UK Film Festival London, and in 2022, it received an “Honorable Mention” at the Female Eye Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.
Venues and Festival Appearances
– TIFF Bell Lightbox Toronto
– Bregenz Festival/ Art from the time
– Burgtheater Vienna
– Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen
– Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
– Festival d’Avignon, Cours Saint Joseph
– Ludwigsburg Castle Festival
– Wien Modern Music Festival
– Philharmonie Luxembourg
– Raimundspiele Gutenstein
– Salzburg Festival/ Young Directors Project
– Reichenau Festival
– City Theater Klagenfurt
– Thalia Theater Hamburg
– Theater an der Wien
– Theater Jungle Vienna
– Theater Odeon Vienna
– Theater Trier
– Théâtre du Rond Point Paris
– Tyrolean Festival Erl
Directing
Cornelia Rainer, born in 1982 in Lienz, East Tyrol, completed her studies in Theater, Film, and Media Studies at the University of Vienna, Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris and Université Saint Denis. She participated in international theater workshops with Peter Brook and George Banu, as well as at the Peking Opera School in Taiwan. During her studies, she gained experience at Thalia Theater Hamburg under Andreas Kriegenburg, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, and Théâtre de l’Atalante in Paris.
From 2005 to 2009, she worked as a directing assistant at Burgtheater Vienna, where she assisted directors such as Andrea Breth, Stefan Bachmann, Karin Beier, and Jan Bosse. It was here that she also began directing her own productions, including her play “The ability of finding home”. She formed a close artistic collaboration with dramaturge Sibylle Dudek and set designer Aurel Lenfert, co-founding the theater company “Theater Montagnes Russes” for several years. Together, they staged productions at Salzburg Festival/Young Directors Project, Theater Dschungel Wien, and Festival Wien Modern.
With her play “Jeanne” she has been awarded with the “Outstanding Artist Award”. In 2016, her reinterpretation of the production “Lenz” earned her an invitation to Festival d’Avignon IN. Since 2017, Cornelia Rainer has worked as an independent director, staging productions at Burgtheater Vienna, Centre Dramatique National de Normandie-Rouen in France, and Théâtre du Rond Point in Paris.
As a film director, she made her debut with “Gil und Dole” (41‘) in collaboration with Apehouse Studios Vienna. The film premiered at the Female Eye Film Festival at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, receiving an “Honorable Mention” for “Best Foreign Short”. In October 2023, the film was selected for the Longlist of the UK Film Festival London in the category of “Best Foreign Short Film.”
Cornelia Rainer lives with her family in Vienna.
Writing
As a writer, Cornelia Rainer is represented by Thomas Sessler Verlag in Vienna and Rowohlt Theaterverlag.
MUSIC
Cornelia Rainer has been shaped by music since childhood and youth: She learned oboe and piano at the Music School in Lienz and received early vocal training from Josef Oberwalder (Osttiroler Viergesang).
In Paris, alongside her theater studies, she studied singing at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Pantin, completing her studies in 2021 at the Conservatory for Church Music in Vienna, specializing in “Lied and Oratorio.”
TEACHING
Cornelia Rainer has taught as a guest lecturer at the Private University in Vienna and was a university assistant at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. In Vienna, she led the “International Masterclass Program” initiated by her theater company, where directors from Austria and internationally conducted workshops, including film director Adrian Goiginger.
JURY
From 2017 to 2023, she was a jury member at the Federal Ministry for Arts and Culture in the Department of Music and Performing Arts.
AWARDS
**Longlist UK Film Festival London, in the category “Best Foreign Short”
“Gil und Dole” (2023)
**Honorable Mention, Female Eye Film Festival, Tiff Bell Light Box Toronto in the category “Best Foreign Short”
“Gil und Dole” (2022)
** Outstanding Artist Award
“Johanna” (2014)
**2013 Nominated for the Stella Performing Arts Award
“Johanna” (2014)
**Nominated for the Montblanc Young Directors Award
“Lenz” (2012)