In response to the outbreak in March, a consumer rights group is taking legal action against the Austrian Government, seeking damages of up to £92,000 after skiers took the virus home with them.

Simon Reichel and Alexander Tank, the filmmakers behind Contraddiction, have produced a 15-minute reconstruction and metaphoric essay on how a small mountain town became a Covid-19 ground zero and the epicentre of the European outbreak. 

‘ISCHGL - What can we learn from the Coronavirus scandal in this mountain town?’ features Peter Kolba, the lawyer leading the class action lawsuit against Ischgl.

The film will premiere this Wednesday at 6PM GMT, live online on paus.tv, followed by a Q&A with Director, Simon, and co-director Alexander.

paus.tv is a new video on-demand platform supporting independent films; no adverts, no subscriptions, just tips.

Ahead of the film's premiere on Wednesday (at 6pm!), we spoke to the Directors Simon and Alex...

What is Ischgl about?

Our film is about how a tiny mountain town in Austria could become the epicentre of the European Coronavirus outbreak. We focus on Dr. Peter Kolba, the lawyer who filed an unprecedented class action lawsuit against the local authorities. This raises other questions around the 'kind' of a mountain town Ischgl really is, and the influence this had on the handling of the local outbreak.

But what is it really about?

The system and attitude this town embodies are not specific to the Tyrolean alps. Ultimately, we ask how much of 'Ischgl' lies in all of us and in our entire society... 

How did you come to make it?

We're from the mountains and grew up with winter sports. Actually, snowboarding was the main catalyst for all our careers. We just went from making snowboard clips with our friends to something with a little more substance.

We had leftover footage from a section in our previous film 'Contraddiction' that had actually been shot in Ischgl. And we were directly affected by the first European lockdowns in Tyrol and Germany. So what better way to pass the time than to use this footage and look at the town that got us locked in our rooms in the first place...

Why are you screening this film with a Q&A next Weds?

We made this film without any financial resources, and so it doesn't have the scope and scale to answer all the questions which we raises. We would have liked to go into more detail, interview a lot more people, shoot more stuff, etc. But since that wasn't possible, we're doing this live Premier on Wednesday so people can ask us questions about the film and tell us what we're missing. 

We are really excited about the partnership with Paus and Adventure Uncovered. They are are reacting progressively and trying to shift the status quo in film distribution.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for independent filmmaking in that regard and we want to contribute to this with our films. 

When is the Premiere?

Weds 2 December, 6PM GMT /7PM CET - don’t miss it!

How can I watch it?

Online on paus.tv: www.paus.tv/livestream