29/08/2023 – The make-up department was under pressure: During tropical temperatures, the entire crew was sweating heavily at the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant while filming the new episode “A Night in Zwentendorf (AT)” from the 19th season of the hit series SOKO Donau. Actors Andreas Kiendl, Martin Gruber, Maria Happel and newcomer Max Fischnaller investigate between the cooling pond and the never actived nuclear power reactor
The Satel Film crew chose a truly spectacular location for the 9th episode of the 19th season of SOKO Donau: The Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in Tullnerfeld, Lower Austria, which was never put into operation! Between reactor, control room and capacitor chamber, Andreas Kiendl, Martin Gruber, Maria Happel and newcomer Max Fischnaller have to solve a spectacular murder in the reactor’s cooling basin. In addition to the main actors Lilian Klebow and Brigitte Kren, Valentin Hagg, Fanni Schneider, Paul Sundheim, Patrick Isopp, Peter Strauß and Veronika Polly are involved in the gripping plot. The director is Olaf Kreinsen, the book is by Frank Weller and Andreas Quetsch. Kai Longolius is behind the camera.
The filming of “A Night in Zwentendorf (AT)” is particularly exciting for Max Fischnaller, who has to prove himself in his role as forensic scientist Julius Rubatsch. “Shooting here is surreal. You can just walk around. This reactor hall is already very impressive. It’s like being in a cathedral, everyone speaks in hushed tones. To me, the power plant seems like a great mystery,” says Max Fischnaller.
Martin Gruber is overwhelmed as well: “When do you ever get the chance to walk around in a real nuclear power plant? The technology is fascinating. I don’t find it scary because it’s not in operation. There’s a full-body Geiger counter that looks like a construction kit from an electric Christmas calendar from 1970. It’s all mechanical. I find all this impressive and it has reduced my reservations. Every component is massive, every steel centimetre thick, you have doors that can only be opened by three people and no radio can get through the reinforced concrete,” Gruber laughs.
Andreas Kiendl appreciates the retro charm of the once “ready-to-use” nuclear power plant, which was never put into operation: “It’s hot, it’s stuffy, it’s a journey back in time. Zwentendorf is really impressive. Especially this complexity of pipes and retro charm make it so unique. I had imagined it much more modern. From the clothes racks to the telephone. You’re catapulted straight into the 70s, in the control centre you feel like you’re in a James Bond film. It’s magnificent.”
Maria Happel, on the other hand, is not so comfortable: “I have great respect for this building and its history. There is something oppressive about it. I didn’t imagine Zwentendorf to be so oversized. From the outside it looks like a cubist work of art and then it’s so huge inside.”
Credit: Satel Film / Monika Fellner
