Austrian actor Florian Teichtmeister, who stars alongside Vicky Krieps in Marie Kreutzer’s Oscar nominee Corsagehas been charged with possession of child pornography.
A court spokeswoman confirmed on Friday that authorities had found some 58,000 digital images containing pornographic images of minors, some as young as 14, in Teichtmeister’s possession. His trial begins on February 8. He faces two years in prison.
Teichtmeister intends to plead guilty and take full responsibility, his lawyer Michael Rami said in a statement to the German news agency dpa. “He confessed during the investigation and always cooperated with the authorities,” said Rami.
Teichtmeister’s attorney argued that his client committed no criminal offenses directly against the people depicted in the pornographic images, calling his offense a “purely digital crime”.
In Corsage, Teichtmeister plays Emperor Franz Joseph, the man who led Vicky Krieps’ Empress Elisabeth. The film is a fictional feminist revisionist account of the 19e century monarch and her portrayal in films like Sisi (1955) starring Romy Schneider.
The period drama premiered last year at Un Certain Regard in Cannes and is Austria’s official entry for the 2023 Oscar for Best International Feature Film. Corsagewhich received a limited domestic release through IFC Films in late December, made the international Oscar shortlist of 15 films.
Vienna’s Burgtheater announced on Friday that it has terminated its contract with Teichtmeister, one of the theater’s ensemble members, after learning of the media investigation “with great horror”.
The Hollywood Reporter has contacted the producers of Corsage and IFC Films for comment on Teichtmeister’s arrest.
