Quinn of the West

Filmmakers:

David Wagner, Magda Woitzuck

Producer

Arash T. Riahi

Production Company:

Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices GmbH

Country:

Austria

Language:

English, German, Italian

Genre:

Postapocalyptic Western

Lab Edition:

2026

SHORT SYNOPSIS

In a scorched, post-digital Europe, a wanted poster reveals that 19-year-old Nisma's mother, long believed dead, is alive: "Quinn of the West", hunted for sabotaging the biggest telegraph network company. Nisma trades her home for the road – only to discover Quinn can't heal the wounds she carries. Believing her beyond redemption, Nisma makes a choice that sends her mother to the gallows, until she realises the real question was never who Quinn is, but who Nisma wants to become.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

I've always wanted to make a western—not to revisit its myths, but to question who has been allowed to inhabit them. Meeting Vera Gemma, daughter of Giuliano Gemma, one of the great icons of Italian western cinema, felt less like coincidence than fate. With my co-writer Magda Woitzuck, we found a story where dust and myth become the landscape for something intimate: a woman reclaiming her future—and a genre that has rarely belonged to her. Because the struggle of women for autonomy is not a relic of the past.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

○ David Wagner is an Austrian director and scriptwriter who studied film in Hamburg & NYC. The world premiere of his feature debut "Eismayer" was at Venice Settimana 2022 It won the main award in Settimana, as well as several awards at renowned international festivals, and was sold to UK, and USA. His short films have been shown at many short film festivals including the Tel Aviv Student Film Festival and have received numerous awards.

○ Magda Woitzuck writes dramatic scripts for radio plays, theater and film, as well as prose. Her short radio play "In Winter" (ORF 2019) was finalist for the Best European Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2021. In the same year, she was nominated for the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize. In 2018, her radio play "The Bride’s Shoes" won the ARD German Radio Play Prize. With a series-project based on her successful podcast Shit happens (SWR 2021) she participated in the Co-Pro Series Berlinale 2025.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

PRODUCER:

Arash T. Riahi

Golden Girls Film is a collective of writers/directors and producers, combining artistic and technical skills. The team around Arash & Arman T. Riahi, Julia Horvath and Jakob Serdaroglu is focusing on timeless social and political issues. Golden Girls Film has won more than 200 international awards. Their recent films are "Girls & Gods" (CPH:Dox 2025, Main Award at Biografilm 2025), “How to be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World" (Berlinale 2025 – Perspectives), "Perla“ (Tiger Competition Rotterdam 2025, 8 Austrian Film Awards), "The Last Ambassador" (HotDocs 2025) and “The Witness“ (Audience Award Orizzonti Extra 2024).

Arash T. Riahi is an Austrian filmmaker, producer & screenwriter of Iranian origin and CEO of Golden Girls Film. He is also working as a dramatic advisor for the Creative Europe script-development programs EAVE, Sources 2, Berlinale Talents and Doc-Incubator.

PRODUCTION COMPANY PROFILE

○ Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices GmbH
○ Seidengasse 15/3/20; 1070 Vienna, AUSTRIA
○ office@goldengirls.at
○ +43-18105636

PRODUCTION BUDGET

○ Total budget: 7,500,000 USD
○ Confirmed budget and source: 65,000 USD (ÖFI -Austrian Film Institute)

LANGUAGE

English, German, Italian

Genre

Postapocalyptic Western

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