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Nils Arztmann stars as Bruno Kreisky, Austria's first Jewish chancellor, in a still from "Bruno: The Young Kriesky." Credit: Domenigg Alamode/Dor Film

Nils Arztmann stars as Bruno Kreisky, Austria's first Jewish chancellor, in a still from "Bruno: The Young Kriesky." Credit: Domenigg Alamode/Dor Film

New biopic 'Bruno: The Young Kreisky' ventures into an era Austrians once 'didn't dare' put on screen, tracing the tumultuous youth and rise to power that made Kreisky's story an enduring lesson in democracy and freedom

In February 1934, Austria descended into civil war, pitting the Austrofascist regime of dictatorial chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss against the weak Social Democratic Party. The regime put down the left's resistance in a few short, bloody days; the Social Democrats were subsequently outlawed. Bruno Kreisky – the man who would become Austria's first and only Jewish chancellor in 1970 – then faced a choice: head into exile, or stay and join the resistance. It was a decision that would shape the rest of his life.