AUSTRIAN FILM COMMISSION - NEWS

INTERVIEW

«All my films are emotional.»

It is only in a momentary depiction of three generations of bourgeois existence that Michael Haneke allows us to become aware, in his new film HAPPY END, which certainties are likely to slip away, which values to sink beneath the surface. Even when employing the transience of youthful chat media, the filmmaker succeeds in generating lasting unease about ourselves – and within ourselves.

«One of the challenges facing me was to create lighting in non-existent rooms.»

In a society where sexual freedom is prohibited by law, the niches of double morality are opened up. In order to narrate a tale of forbidden Iran in his work TEHERAN TABOO, director Ali Soozandeh has chosen an animation technique based on images shot live with actors. We talked to Austrian DOP Martin Gschlacht who provides an insight into an unusual approach on set.

Austrian films at international festivals

Participations April - May 2017

Austrian films on international screens

Theatrical releases
October 2016 – April 2017

HAPPY END at the 70^th Cannes Festival

Double Palme d’or winner Michael Haneke is back at the Cannes festival presenting HAPPY END – a snapshot from the life of a bourgeois family – with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Isabelle Huppert and Mathieu Kassovitz in competition. WESTERN by German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach, co-produced by coop99 filmproduktion, is part of this year’s Un Certain Regard selection.

56^th Cannes Critics Week selects TEHRAN TABOO

First time director Ali Soozandeh chose the animation medium to provide insight into an opaque and two-faced society where sexual and moral freedom has been banished by religious law. TEHRAN TABOO, shot by Austrian DOP Martin Gschlacht and co-produced by Austrian coop99 filmproduction with German Little Dream Entertainment, is one of the seven competition entries of the 56th Cannes Critics Week

MISTER UNIVERSO awarded in Montevideo and Paris

Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

Universally present MISTER UNIVERSO garners two awards on one weekend: the Audience Award at the Montevideo Film Festival and a Special Mention by the Prix Sauvage jury of the L’Europe autour de l’Europe festival in Paris.

SECONDO ME at
Toronto Hot Docs

After its world premiere at the Locarno Critics Week, SECONDO ME sets out for its North American premiere at the Toronto Hot Docs festival (April 27 to May 7, 2017). Pavel Cuzuioc’s directorial debut reverses the flow of attention at three opera houses by skipping the stage and portraying three cloakroom attendants. SECONDO ME is part of the World Showcase line-up

Six Austrian voices at CPH:DOX

Two thought-provoking first-time documentaries, THE THIRD OPTION by Thomas Fürhapter (vying for Dox:Award) and FREE LUNCH SOCIETY by Christian Tod (eligible for the Politiken Audience Award) will celebrate their world premiere in Copenhagen. HOMO SAPIENS, MISTER UNIVERSO, SAFARI and UNTITLED add to a strong Austrian presence at the upcoming CPH: DOX festival.

Saas Fee Crystal Larch to HIDDEN RESERVES

The Saas Fee Filmfest honors Valentin Hitz’ HIDDEN RESERVES with its main award, the Crystal Larch, the Critics Choice went to the German-Austrian co-production THE EREMITES by Ronny Trocker.

COLD HELL wins Jury Prize at Beaune

The feature film jury of the Festival International du Film Policier at Beaune awards Stefan Ruzowitzy’s COLD HELL with the Jury Prize. The distinction went ex aequo to the Spanish production The Fury of a Patient Man by Raúl Arévalo.

WILD MOUSE charms German audience

On German screens since March 9, WILD MOUSE scored the best opening weekend ever of an Austrian movie released in Germany. With 37,000 viewers (previews included even 50,100) Josef Hader’s directorial debut made the second most successful release right behind Oscar winner Moonlight last weekend.

«What is normality? What is disability?»

Thomas Fürhapter

If the results of prenatal diagnosis indicate anomalies, prospective parents are faced with an extremely serious decision. In The Third Option Thomas Fürhapter goes beyond a focus on free choice and individual destinies; he employs a stringent documentary structure to examine social consensus about normality and disability, questioning the true nature of freedom in a society marked by striving for optimization and normalization.

«Curiosity and the desire to improve the world.»

At a time when walls, fears and cutbacks are narrowing the horizon, Christian Tod’s Free Lunch Society reflects on the concept of Unconditional Basic Income, providing a refreshing and illuminating view of the present as a vast realm of unthought-of opportunities.

FICUNAM awards Patric Chiha Best Director

Patric Chiha’s wins the Best director award for the „humane, delicate and creative approach to his characters“ in BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT.

67^th Berlinale: Compass Perspektive Award to Adrian Goiginger

Adrian Goiginger

Awarded for the first time and endowed with € 5,000, the Compass Perspektive Award goes to first time director Adrian Goiginger and his sensitive homage to his mother and her battle between maternal love and her drug addiction THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS.

Silver Bear to Georg Friedrich

Georg Friedrich took the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his strong leading performance in Thomas Arslan's Bright Nights. As part fo Josef Hader's cast in Wild Mouse he gave a second key performance at the 67^th Golden Bear competiton.

«I wanted a reversal of perspective.»

Adrian Goiginger

In THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS Adrian Goiginger depicts with striking honesty his childhood years in the disturbing world of a junkie apartment and his mother, who managed to create space for him to have a good childhood despite the chaos of her own addiction.

«The blow to Georg's ego is devastating.»

In his directorial debut WILD MOUSE Josef Hader dispatches an eminent classical music reviewer on a tragi-comic rollercoaster ride, watching closely to see how a sophisticated spirit can be transformed into a wild beast as a result of a bruised ego. A conversation with the writer, director and leading actor.

«A film that never stands still.»

When Michael Glawogger embarked on a journey in December 2013 for his project UNTITLED, it was his desire to make a film that never stands still. He was not to return from that journey. Monika Willi has now edited the material created over about four and a half months, coaxing the narrative and poetic power from this film with no name – a task which was both melancholy and marked by zest for life.

Achingly personal ... genuinely profound

... that's what Screen International wrote about the moving mosaic Monika Willi, Michael Glawogger's long term editor, has composed out of images and texts gathered during the four months and 19 days of his journey for his film project UNTITLED.

«Rock me, Amadeus.»...

... that's how The Hollywood Reporter concludes its Berlinale review of Josef Hader's directorial debute WILD MOUSE ...« the film that may be the most effortlessly fun of the festival's program.

UNTITLED by Michael Glawogger and Monika Willi at Berlinale PANORAMA

More than two years after the sudden death of Michael Glawogger in April 2014, film editor Monika Willi realized a film out of the film footage produced during 4 months and 19 days of shooting in the Balkans, Italy, Northwest and West Africa. A journey into the world to observe, listen and experience, the eye attentive, courageous and raw.

Berlinale 2017:
WILD MOUSE faces Golden Bear

Josef Hader's directorial debut WILD MOUSE has been selected for the Golden Bear competition of the 67^th Berlinale. Author and director Josef Hader also plays the male lead, Georg, a renowned music critic who sets out for revenge after he has lost his prestigious job at a Vienna news paper.

Max Ophüls 2017: young Austrian cinema sweeps three main awards

Both juries and audience enchanted by new films by Austrian first time directors: Monja Art’s SEVENTEEN takes the Max Ophüls Prize 2017 and the Best Young Actress Award (Elisabeth Wabitsch), Arman T. Riahi’s first feature film THE MIGRUMPIES wins the Audience Award.

«It's a phase full of courage and energy and a lack of inhibitions.»

In SEVENTEEN Monja Art plunges into the emotional rollercoaster ride of a period in life characterized by unlimited opportunities and missed chances.

THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS is part of Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Adrian Goiginger

There’s one more Austrian directorial debut to appear at the 67th Berlinale: Perspektive Deutsches Kino invites the Austrian-German co-production THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS by first-time director Adrian Goiginger.

Berlinale Forum selects ANIMALS by Greg Zglinski

ANIMALS by Greg Zglinski, a co-production between Austria, Switzerland and Poland, adds to our line-up at the upcoming 67^th Berlinale. The unsettling drama, starring Birgit Minichmayr and Philipp Hochmair, is co-produced by Vienna-based coop99 filmproduktion.

«You can also approach clichés with respect.»

In the media satire THE MIGRUMPIES the director and the leading actors juggle with clichés about immigrants, asking why the migrant background persists in the foreground over generations. Arman T. Riahi discusses his debut as a feature film director.

The Film Year 2016

2016 has been a year which has prompted rare approval from critics, festival juries and cinema audiences alike. Take a look back with us at the year of THE DREAMED ONES, TOMCAT, HOMO SAPIENS, SAFARI, MISTER UNIVERSO, BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT and many more

TONI ERDMANN takes five major distinctions at EFA 2016

German-Austrian co-production TONI ERDMANN (co-produced by coop99 filmproduktion) tops its outstanding festival run with five major distinctions: European Film 2016, European Director and European Screenwriter Maren Ade, European Actress Sandra Hüller and European Actor Peter Simonischek.

Marrakesh Jury Prize to MISTER UNIVERSO

Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

The jury of the 16^th Marrakesh Film Festival under the presidency of Béla Tarr confers its Jury Prize to Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel's MISTER UNIVERSO – a filmic journey through an unfamiliar Italy guided by iron muscles and lucky charms.

TONI ERDMANN in the race for Foreign Language Award

Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN on a roll: After sweeping the five major distinctions at the European Film Awards, the German-Austrian co-production was announced to be on the Oscar shortlist for the Foreign Language Award together with eight more candidates.

Cinematography Award to HIDDEN RESERVES

Martin Gschlacht who has created the chilling dystopian images of HIDDEN RESERVES by Valentin Hitz wins the prize for Best Feature Cinematography at the AUSTIN Other Worlds Festival.

«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. In TONI ERDMANN German filmmaker Maren Ade creates a splendidly subversive romp; Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller provide memorable performances in the leading roles – both honored with the European Film Award 2016. A conversation with Peter Simonischek.

„Daring and original“: A DECENT WOMAN wins three awards

Lukas Valenta Rinner

Lukas Valenta Rinner picks up three awards on a single night: at the Torino film festival he takes the Special Jury Award, endowed with €7,000, at Mar del Plata a Best Director Award and „decent woman“ Iride Mockert the Prize for Best New Actress.

Busy November: 124 festival participations and a couple of awards ...

Patric Chiha, Stephan Richter, Händl Klaus and Valentin Hitz are the award winners of the busiest festival month of the year.

«We are being told how we should think.»

Ruth Mader's new film LIFE GUIDANCE depicts the future as an apparent copy of the present, where imperceptibly yet efficiently an extensive surveillance system draws the net tighter. We had a short talk with the director during the shooting.

«I experienced the sensation of being in a glass bell jar.»

In her debut feature film HOME IS HERE Tereza Kotyk examines the more or less unfathomable inner worlds of her protagonists, depicting people who are searching for themselves and never encounter one another. World premiere: Tallinn (First Feature Competition)

TOMCAT by Händl Klaus: Around the world in 60 days

The absorbing drama about loss and love entered the festival circuit at the Berlinale 2016 and hasn’t lost momentum since. In October and November 2016 the Teddy Award winner is meeting with audiences of more than 30 film festivals from all over the world. LesGaiCineMad Madrid awarded TOMCAT for Best Screenplay.

Silver Punt Audience Award to FUTURE BABY

Maria Arlamovsky

Maria Arlamovsky’s exploration on the current facets of human reproduction wins the Silver Punt Audience Award for best documentary scoring a record 4,83 out of 5 at the Cambridge Film Festival.

NIGHT OF A 1000 HOURS wins Busan Bank Award

Virgil Widrich’s time traveling family drama received the prestigious Busan Bank Award – as the most highly rated film of the Flash Forward competition by the festival audience. The award comes with a 20.000 US dollar bonus, shared equally between the director and the Korean distributor of the film.

A Montréal FNC palmarès with a strong Austrian touch

The 45^th Montréal Festival Nouveau Cinéma awards German-Austrian co-production TONI ERDMANN with a Louve d’or and the best performance prize to Peter Simonischek. The Special Mention went to Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel’s MISTER UNIVERSO.

Zurich Focus jury honors two Austrian films

HIDDEN RESERVES by Valentin Hitz wins the Golden Eye of the Focus Switzerland, Germany, Austria competition at the 12^th Zurich film festival. A Special Mention went to Maria Arlamovsky’s documentary FUTURE BABY.

«The idea of not being permitted to die.»

Valentin Hitz’s Hidden Reserves imagines a world where private life has been pervaded by technology and society sharply divided into rich and poor. A world where the human body is exploited for data storage even after natural death. However, in this world drained of mutual trust, color and emotion, which prefers to entrust life and death to insurance companies, a hidden potential for resistance is beginning to appear. An interview with director Valentin Hitz and producer Oliver Neumann.

«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.

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