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    SHORT NEWS

    Four Austrian films at the 41st TORONTO film festival

    Shortly after world premiere in Venice, Locarno or Sarajevo Ulrich Seidl’s SAFARI, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s MISTER UNIVERSO and Lukas V. Rinner’s A DECENT WOMAN are moving onto  their North-American Premiere at the TIFF. Ruth Beckermann’s THE DREAMED ONES is part of the festival’s Wavelengths-selection.
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    Three world premieres at the Zurich festival

    Zurich unveils its 12th festival line-up including three Austrian world premieres:  EGON SCHIELE –  DEATH AND THE MAIDEN by Dieter Berner, HIDDEN RESERVES by Valentin Hitz and WE USED TO BE COOL by Marie Kreutzer. Three more films add to the Austrians at Zurich – FUTURE BABY by Maria Arlamovsky, SAFARI by Ulrich Seidl and the German-Austrian co-production THE EREMITES by Ronny Trocker.
    SHORT NEWS

    Austrian films at international festivals

    Participations August - September 2016
    SHORT NEWS

    World premiere of NIGHT OF 1000 HOURS at Busan

    Three Austrian films at the 21st Busan film festival: Virgil Widrich’s suspenseful time-travel NIGHT OF A 1000 HOURS has been selected for the Flash Forward Audience Award Competition, Ulrich Seidl's SAFARI and Dieter Berner’s biopic EGON SCHIELE – DEATH AND THE MAIDEN  will  also meet with the Asian audience.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Why does someone kill when there’s no need?»

    Ulrich Seidl
    In SAFARI Ulrich Seidl goes on the trail of European hobby hunters as they stalk big game in Africa, and in the vast expanses where the natural world is unlimited he captures a  thoughtful portrait of domination and mortality.
    SHORT NEWS

    ONE OF US pre-selected by European Film Academy

    The European Film Academy has announced its first list of fiction films recommended for nomination for the European Films Award 2016. ONE OF US, the feature debut of Stefan Richter, is among the 50 contenders vying for EFA in twelve categories. German-Austrian co-production TONI ERDMANN is also in the race.
    SHORT NEWS

    MISTER UNIVERSO picks up five awards at Locarno

    The new film by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel has impressed juries and film critics alike and brings in no less than FIVE awards:
    • Special mention in the Leopardo competition,
    • Special mention by the jury of the Ecumenical prize
    • Second Prize of the Junior Jury
    • FIPRESCI Prize and
    • Europa Cinema Label
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «We live in a period when we tend to isolate ourselves.»

    Lukas Valenta Rinner
    Austrian filmmaker Lukas Valenta Rinner has been a long time observer of Argentinian society and its widening gap between rich and poor. A DECENT WOMAN confronts two secluded communities, a wealthy gated settlement and a nudist/swingers club right next door, subtly and slowly tracing the rise of tension that inevitably leads to the final showdown
    SHORT NEWS

    SAFARI by Ulrich Seidl at the 73rd Venice film festival

    Ulrich Seidl traces the eerie paths of European hunting tourists in Kenya. SAFARI, „a vacation movie about killing“, will screen Out of Competition.  Two more films (co-)produced by Austrian companies will be on the Venice schedule: CINEMA FUTURES by Michael Palm (Venice Classics) and THE EREMITES by Ronny Trocker (Orizzonti).
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Tairo had the talent to do the wrong thing at the right time.»

    Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
    MISTER UNIVERSO is set to tame Locarno's Golden Leopard: Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel's new film enters the force field between a lion tamer and a former Mr Universe.
    A filmic journey guided by iron muscles and lucky charms.
    SHORT NEWS

    A GERMAN LIFE is part of the EFA Documentary Selection 2016

    A GERMAN LIFE is among the 15 European documentaries recommended for nomination for the European Film Award 2016 by the ten most renowned European documentary festivals.A GERMAN LIFE by Christian Krönes, Florian Weigensamer, Roland Schrotthofer and Olaf S. Müller is the portrait of a unique witness of the 20th century – 105-year-old Brunhilde Pomsel, secretary of Joseph Goebbles, during the Nazi regime.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «The Korida operators were the first people to reach out to one another after the war.»

    Siniša Vidović
    When Siniša Vidovic embarked on his first documentary KORIDA he planned to pay tribute to the tradition of Bosnian bullfighting. It soon turned out to that it wouldn't be a film about the Korida but a film about Bosnia and the post-war period.
    SHORT NEWS

    A DECENT WOMAN vies for the Heart of Sarajevo

    Four Austrian (co-) productions on the screens of the 22nd Sarajevo film festival: Lukas Valenta Rinner presents his second feature length work A DECENT WOMAN in the main competition, KORIDA by Siniša Vidovic and DOWN THERE by Djordje Cenic are selected for documentary competition, Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN is part of the Kinoscope 2016.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «A story that can’t be trusted.»

    Luz Olivares Capelle
    The universe Luz Olivares Capelle has managed to create and deconstruct consistently is both carefree and eerie. FOREST OF ECHOS is the Austrian contribution to the platform for young filmmakers FUTURE FRAMES, which has been initiated by the European Film Promotion organisation and will  present ten young talents at the 51st Karlovy Vary festival.
    SHORT NEWS

    BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT wins Special Jury Award at Cúritiba

    Patric Chiha
    Patric Chiha’s Berlinale entry BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT is the winner of the Special Jury Award at the Olhar de Cinema festival at Cúritiba (Brazil). Brothers of the Night is a gentle and colorful portrait of young Bulgarian Roma who come to Vienna in order to make quick money by selling their bodies.
    SHORT NEWS

    Jakob M. Erwa’s CENTER OF MY WORLD in Moscow and Munich

    Jakob M. Erwa
    The German-Austrian coproduction starts out for its festival career as a contender of the main competition of the 38th Moscow Film Festival  and will also be part of the Reihe Neues Deutsches Kino at the 34th Filmfest Munich.
    SHORT NEWS

    Andreas Gruber awarded in Shanghai

    Andreas Gruber
    HANNA'S SLEEPING DOGS, a German-Austrian co-production directed by Andreas Gruber, was awarded the Golden Goblet Award for best screenplay at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «How do people look at somebody who comes into light?»

    Barbara Albert has just finished shooting her new film LIGHT, set in Vienna in the late Rococo period. Light focuses on Maria Theresia Paradis, a musical prodigy who lost her sight at the age of three and her oscillation between light and shadow both in her own life and in society’s perception of her. It is the fourth feature film, produced by NGF Geyrhalterfilm. We talked to producer Michael Kitzberger.
    SHORT NEWS

    Barbara Eder among the 10 Women Film-
    makers to Watch at Sydney

    Barbara Eder
    The EFP together with Variety seek to highlight Europe’s promising female directors during the upcoming Sydney festival (June 8-19). 10 WOMEN FILMMAKERS TO WATCH showcases a wide array of young women filmmakers  – polyglot as the continent itself.
    SHORT NEWS

    Honorable mention to
    TOMCAT at Tel Aviv

    Händl Klaus
    Award n° 3 to TOMCAT by Händl Klaus: The Teddy Award winner 2016 receives an honorable mention at the narrative feature competition at the LGBT film festival TEL AVIV.
    SHORT NEWS

    Bildrausch Ring of Film Art to Ruth Beckermann

    Ruth Beckermann
    The Bildrausch Festival Basel decorates Ruth Beckermann’s THE DREAMED ONES with the Bildrausch Ring of Film Art. Ruth Beckermann’s subtle approach to the correspondence between Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan is one of the two ex aequo festival winners together with Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Cemetery of Splendour.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «The great thing is that he doesn't give up.»

    Winfried Conradi misses his daughter, a successful businesswoman, so he pays an impromptu visit to her in Bucharest. When she rejects him in his role as caring father he tries again, this time adopting an eccentric persona as he stages incongruous encounters in an attempt to entice her out of her reserve and re-establish the tacit understanding they used to have. In TONI ERDMANN German filmmaker Maren Ade creates a splendidly subversive romp; Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller provide memorable performances in the leading roles. A conversation with Peter Simonischek.
    FEATURE

    «.... a humane, hilarious triumph», Variety

    Enthusiastic and unanimous: international reviews on Maren Ade's TONI ERDMANN, German-Austrian co-production by Komplizen Film and coop99 filmproduction vying for Palme d'or
    Read  more
    SHORT NEWS

    69th Cannes festival: Austrian touch on Palme d'or contender TONI ERDMANN

    There’s an Austrian touch on the German competition entry TONI ERDMANN by Maren Ade which is co-produced by Vienna based coop99 filmproduktion.  Peter Simonischek plays the male lead as a father who unexpectedly barges into his daughter's professional life.

    SHORT NEWS

    Jessica Hausner is part of the UN CERTAIN REGARD Jury 2016

    Austrian director Jessica Hausner, Un Certain Regard contender in 2014 with Amour Fou, will be part of the UN CERTAIN REGARD JURY 2016 along with Marthe Keller (president), Diego Luna, Ruben Östlund and Céline Sallette
    SHORT NEWS

    DOK.fest MUNICH closes with  two Austrian wins

    THREE FARMERS AND A SON, Sigmund Steiner’s feature debut about a generational conflict in times of agricultural demise wins the Viktor Dok.deutsch. The German Documentary Music Award, went to DREAMES REWIRED, the widely acclaimed found footage essay about the early times of communication technology.
    SHORT NEWS

    THANK YOU FOR BOMBING wins Fliegender Ochse + Fipresci Prize

    Barbara Eder
    Barbara Eder’s THANK YOU FOR BOMBING scores twice at the FILMKUNSTFEST Mecklenburg Vorpommern.The main prize, FLIEGENDER OCHSE, endowed with € 10.000,-, and the FIPRESCI-Prize went to this compelling story in three episodes about the everyday existence of war reporters in the war zone Kabul.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Özge doesn't talk things to death: she acts and reacts.»

    Stefan Ruzowitzky
    Since his Academy Award for The Counterfeiters in 2008, Stefan Ruzowitzky has directed two action thrillers in the US. He is currently shooting relentless combats on the bridges over the Danube and action-packed car chases along the Vienna Ring Road. His new project DIE HÖLLE involves a young female taxi driver with Turkish roots in a duel with a serial killer and braces the audience for unprecedented tempo in an Austrian action movie.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «The baby actually becomes an object like a car or a house.»

    Maria Arlamovsky
    Maria Arlamovsky's FUTURE BABY questions and reflects on the options and bounderies of reproductive medicine.
    SHORT NEWS

    FOREST OF ECHOS selected by Future Frames 2016

    The European Film Promotion has announed its FUTURE FRAMES-selection 2016:
    FOREST OF ECHOES by Maria Luz Olivares Capelle is the Austrian entry to this initiative that sets a focus on the very young European directing talent.
    SHORT NEWS

    Toronto HotDocs with FUTURE BABY by
    Maria Arlamovsky

    Maria Arlamovsky
    Women and men longing for parenthood is a highly promising market. The options offered by science advance much faster than society has time to adapt to the ethical challenges coming along with. Maria Arlamovsky’s FUTURE BABY invites us to discover what is possible now and to question ourselves how far we’d be ready to go in the future.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «You can't get away from her perspective.»

    Brunhilde Pomsel, 103 years old when the film was made, was the secretary of Joseph Goebbels. The documentary film A GERMAN LIFE by Christian Krönes, Florian Weigensamer, Roland Schrotthofer and Olaf S. Müller presents this unique witness of the 20th century at NYON - VISIONS DU REEL.
    SHORT NEWS

    Visions du réel – Nyon: A GERMAN LIFE in competition

    Today aged 105, Brunhilde Pomsel used to work as secretary for the Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. A GERMAN LIFE, contender at the international competition at Nyon (April 15 – 23), encounters a fascinating lady of advanced age and takes a grippng look back at an unpolitical life.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Genre film has always been a passion of mine.»

    Dominik Hartl
    In Dominik Hartl's ATTACK OF THE LEDERHOSENZOMBIES alpine ski chalet madness and a fancy snowboard photo-shooting mutate into a bone-chilling showdown on the ski slopes. Read more
    SHORT NEWS

    Hong Kong Jury Prize goes to TOMCAT by Händl Klaus

    TOMCAT by Händl Klaus, contender of the Young Cinema competiton at the Hong Kong IFF, wins the Jury Prize.  «A film brimming with ambition in its account of the precariousness of human relationships both in life and work», stated the jury.
    SHORT NEWS

    Cinéma du Réel 2016: Two awards to THE DREAMED ONES

    Successful closure for Ruth Beckermann at Cinéma du Réel: her subtle approach to the the correspondence between Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan has won the SCAM International   Award. One of her motives to this film was the questions how young people respond to these letters and language today. Could there be a better answer than the Special Mention by the jury of the Young Award?
    FEATURE

    Cinéma du Réel 2016: THE DREAMED ONES in competition + Focus on Nikolaus Geyrhalter

    Ruth Beckermann’s THE DREAMED ONES recently awarded Best Austrian fiction film, is part of the international competition at Cinéma du Réel; the festival also dedicates a focus to Nikolaus Geyrhalter including HOMO SAPIENS along with Over the Years and former CDR-award-winners The Year after Dayton and Pripyat.
     
    SHORT NEWS

    Berlinale 2016: TOMCAT wins Teddy Award

    After its world premiere at the Berlinale Panorama Special TOMCAT, Händl Klaus' second feature length movie, an absorbing drama about a solid and happy gay couple facing loss and a deep breach of confidence,  was awarded the Teddy Award . The prize launched in 1987 by the Berlinale Panorama is the only official LGBTIQ film prize at an A-festival worldwide.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «I can't explain our existence and I don't have the comfort of a religion.»

    Händl Klaus
    Händl Klaus talks about TOMCAT, an intensely absorbing drama about loss and love,  selected for Panorama Special 2016
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «I wanted them to be heroes.»

    Patric Chiha
    World premiere of Patric Chiha's BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT, hosted by PANORAMA DOKUMENTE. We talked to the director...
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «By being so radically absent, human beings are all the more present.»

    Nikolaus Geyrhalter
    Nikolaus Geyrhalter talks about HOMO SAPIENS a haunting meditation on the fragility of human existence. The film is part of the 2016 Berlinale Forum selection.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «This love has the character of a dream.»

    Ruth Beckermann
    Ruth Beckermann discusses her latest project THE DREAMED ONES based on the correspondence between Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan, which marks a departure for her by venturing into feature film territory.
    SHORT NEWS

    Berlinale 2016: BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT by Patric Chiha at Panorama Dokumente

    Patric Chiha’s BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT (Brüder der Nacht) adds to the Austrian line-up at the upcoming 66th Berlinale. Chiha’s gentle and colorful portraits of young Bulgarian Roma who come to Vienna in order to make quick money by selling their bodies will be part of  Panorama Dokumente.
    SHORT NEWS

    Berlinale 2016: TOMCAT by Händl Klaus at Panorama Special

    The Berlinale 2016 has announced its first Austrian pick: TOMCAT by Händl Klaus, an intensely absorbing drama about loss and love, starring Philipp Hochmair and Lukas Turtur, is selected for Panorama Special.

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