The successful theatre project is now in its seventh year and is becoming even more international. As well as German-language productions, there are now for the first time ones from Japan, Norway and the USA in the context of the Young Directors Project.

By participating in the Young Directors Project, young international directors have the unique opportunity of presenting themselves to the international press in the German-speaking area. Some of the participants have gone on to make an outstanding career.

The whole theatre project will be completely financed by Montblanc, as in every year. In addition to the sponsoring finance, Montblanc donates every year part of the revenue from the sale of the Salzburg Special Edition “Hommage à Max Reinhardt”. This has made it possible to put on more productions in the previous years and also allowed an American, Scandinavian and Asian company to participate for the first time in 2008.

Since 2002, the international culture brand Montblanc has supported the Young Directors Project within the context of the Salzburg Festival. Initiated by Jürgen Flimm, it is an exciting competition for young, international theatre directors and their companies. The aim of the project is to present young artists whose work is considered pioneering for the future of the theatre.

For the first time this year, the four young directors and their companies include theatre groups from the USA, Norway and Japan. The fourth production is from Germany. All performances are new productions and will be shown in the original language with English or German super-titles and so appeal to the heterogeneous, international Festival public:

The VIP jury is the same as last year’s: Dr Helga Rabi-Stadler (President of the Salzburg Festival), actress Sunnyi Melles, Peter Simonischek (Salzburg’s ‘Everyman’), Thaddaeus Ropac (Ropac Gallery) and culture critic Wolfgang Kralicek.

The opening speech will be held this year by the historian Prof. Dr Karl Schlögel. In the same way he interprets great historical connections in their locations and thus brings history to life, he will now turn to the theatre and there “read time in context”.

In addition to sponsoring the whole project, Montblanc donates the prize for the best piece of direction. The winner of the Montblanc Young Directors Award 2008 will receive prize money amounting to €10,000 and the Montblanc Max Reinhardt fountain-pen, which was specially designed for this project.

The presentation of the Montblanc Young Directors Award 2008 takes place on Friday, 22 August 2008.