SCHÄXpeer goes Texas

In Erben One the boundaries between technology and grief become blurred. A young woman seeks comfort in an android replica of her lost friend and faces the existential question: Can love be reconstructed, or is letting go the only way? The film was directed by 12-year-old Luis Heimberger from Linz. “For me, it's about portraying the gap between AI and humans in a humorous but also serious way,” says the young director. “Especially today, this topic needs to be discussed in film.”

The film was created within nine months as part of SCHÄXpeer, a youth group founded in the course of the international theater festival SCHÄXPIR 2025. The project sees theater education as a dialogue on equal terms and gives young people the space to professionally tackle complex topics such as content creation and film production.

With its selection by the Midnight Monster Club Film Festival in El Paso, Texas, Erben One is now reaching an international audience. The festival, which emerged from a community of over 23,000 members, is an important springboard for indie horror. In addition to monthly awards and cash prizes, the event offers outstanding entries the chance to be screened live in front of an audience in the US. For the young filmmakers from Upper Austria, this means going from a regional youth project straight to the big screen in Texas.