AUSTRIAN FILM COMMISSION - NEWS

Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s THE BORDER FENCE competes at IDFA

The Austrian film year ends with a film about frontiers – on the political agenda, in everyday life, in our minds ... Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s accurate observation THE BORDER FENCE is part of the 31^stIDFA main competition. Also screening in Amsterdam: THE WALDHEIM WALTZ by Ruth Beckermann in the Masters selection and Amsterdam Human Rights Award Nominee CHAOS by Sara Fattahi in Best of Fests and Main Focus Program.

CHAOS wins at Mar del Plata

Sara Fattahi’s CHAOS wins the Altered States competition at the Mar del Plata Film Festival ex-aequo with the film Casanovagen by Luise Donschen.”The director left her native country but took the war with her.”, observes the jury in its particularly accurate statement.

Austrian films at international festivals

Participations September - November 2018

Austrian films on international screens

Theatrical releases
October 2016 – November 2018

Tribute to Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel at GIJON

The 56^th Festival Internacional de Cine in GIJÒN (November 16 to 24) dedicates a tribute to TIZZA COVI and RAINER FRIMMEL screening MISTER UNIVERSO, THE SHINE OF DAY, LA PIVELLINA, BABOOSKA and honored the filmmakers with the Premio de Honor del Festival at the opening ceremony.

«In a global context, fences don't solve anything.»

Nikolaus Geyrhalter

The Austrian government's announcement that it would set up a fence at the Brenner border crossing to ensure refugees didn't stream into the country through Italy prompted Nikolaus Geyrhalter to set off for Tyrol, to capture the creation of this defensive edifice in THE BORDER FENCE.

JOY all over –
with major awards in London and Chicago

Sudabeh Mortezai’s second feature film, recently awarded in Venice, garners major distinctions in LONDON and CHICAGO: Best Film Award at the 62^nd BFI London Film Festival ("a provocative and unique film offering a devastating portrait of human resilience in the most inhuman of environments") and Silver Hugo: Special Jury Prize at the 54^th Chicago IFF

DOK Leipzig with THE DAYS AND THE YEAR and a tribute to
RUTH BECKERMANN

The 61^th DOK Leipzig hosts the world premiere of Othmar Schmiderer’s THE DAYS AND THE YEAR and pays tribute to Ruth Beckermann with a special program including early works as well as the Austrian Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film – THE WALDHEIM WALTZ. Ruth Beckermann is also jury member of the Next Masters competition

L’ANIMALE wins Zurich Focus competition

Austrian contenders in focus at the Zurich closing ceremony: L’ANIMALE by Katharina Mückstein took the Best Film award of the Focus Switzerland/Germany/Austria competition. WELCOME TO SODOM by Christian Krönes and Florian Weigensamer returns from the 14th Zurich film festival with a Special Mention of the Focus jury and the Ecumenical Film Award.

film comment on JOY: Impressively distilled in plot and style

Impressively distilled in plot and style, Joy nonetheless explores (but does not untie) a formidable knot of issues around money, migration, motherhood, race, policing, pragmatism, and violence both personal and systemic. Read more of Nick Davis’ thoughts on JOY in film comment.

... and further more prizes to Austrian docs

The JIHLAVA Testimony On Nature-section honors WELCOME TO SODOM as its most outstanding contribution, SAND AND BLOOD receives a Special Mention at the Romanian ASTRA Festival and UTOPIA REVISITED by Kurt Langbein wins the Grande Prémio at CINEECO Festival at Serra da Estrella.

THE WALDHEIM WALTZ – "film of the week" by Spiegel.online

WALDHEIM’S WALTZ by Ruth Beckermann hits the screens in Germany and Switzerland and enchants the critics ...

Variety: «formally stunning and politically seething»

«Schleinzer’s film takes a chillingly but aptly clinical view of a life treated as an amusing human experiment by all but the man living it.»Read more of Variety’s astute review of Markus Schleinzer’s sophomore film ANGELO, released at Toronto and San Sebastián.

Busan IFF hosts ANGELO and THE TOBACCONIST

After acclaimed American and European premieres in Toronto and San Sebastián, Markus Schleinzer's second feature film ANGELO completes a first round across the globe in no less than four weeks. The Busan IFF hosts ANGELO together with Nikolas Leytner's THE TOBACCONIST in its Flash Forward competition.

ANGELO flies over to San Sebastián

After a critically acclaimed world premiere at TIFF, Markus Schleinzer’s ANGELO flies over to San Sebastián to embark immediately on its European premiere within the Golden Shell competition.The first San Sebastián screening of ANGELO is scheduled for Tuesday 25. Indiewire is featuring ANGELO among seven outstanding Toronto entries highly recommended to US distributors.

«The star that shines so brightly also illuminates the master it serves.»

Markus Schleinzer

Markus Schleinzer’s highly anticipated 2^nd feature film has premiered at TIFF. Inspired by the fragmentary nature of the mysterious, extraordinary biography of Angelo Soliman he has created an artistic interplay of light and shadow, projecting thought-provoking impulses on identity and freedom into the present day.

Zurich Film Festival: Four Austrians in Focus

The Focus Switzerland/Germany/Austria competition hosts the world premiere of Eva Spreitzhofer’s humorous reaction to tendencies to redirect religion into the center of social debates – WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS? and three more of our 2018 highlights: ANGELO by Markus Schleinzer, L’ANIMALE by Katharina Mückstein and WELCOME TO SODOM by Christian Krönes and Florian Weigensamer.

«A fine story for a film.»

Nikolaus Leytner

Even though the Vienna of Robert Seethaler’s novel THE TOBACCONIST s one where Sigmund Freud still buys his cigars from the little shop round the corner, the barbaric regime of the Nazis is clearly rearing its ugly head. Only for a brief period is the job of a tobacconist an opportunity for 17-year-old Franz from Lake Attersee to learn something about the world and gain a basic training in resistance. Nikolaus Leytner has created a film version of this bestseller about the rapid awakening of a young dreamer, with Simon Morzé in the leading role.

JOYful Venice Days

Sudabeh Mortezai’s second feature JOY takes two of the major awards given away within the Giornate degli autori sidebar. JOY is the first winner of the newly launched HEARST AWARD for Best Film by a female director, and also received the EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL, that supports the theatrical release and the visibility of the winning film throughout Europe.

«It's a patriarchal instrument of suppression.»

Eva Spreitzhofer

Wanda's world seems to be in order. But one day her daughter Nina turns up, her head wrapped in a scarf, declaring that she has converted to Islam. Wanda’s life, her entire moral concept based on tolerance and feminism, is shaken to the core. In her feature film debut WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO DESERVE THIS? Eva Spreitzhofer adopts a witty approach to the absurdities of a social debate which has recently become dominated by religious considerations.

Screen International: « ... a genuinely arresting arthouse must-watch»

«Markus Schleinzer’s supremely assured second feature is, in its own way, as profoundly uncomfortable as his 2011 debut, Michael; (...) Inspired by the life of Viennese ‘Court Moor’ Angelo Soliman, ANGELO is a mesmerising portrait of a man of quiet dignity whose very humanity is denied by those around.» A review by Screen International. Read more.

Variety: «A standout in this year’s Venice Days program»

«Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai doubles down on the promise of 'Macondo' with a tough, fully inhabited portrayal of Nigerian migrant sex workers.» Read more of Variety's enthusiastic review of the Venice Hearst Award-winner JOY

WALDHEIM’S WALTZ: Austria’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film

The Berlinale Best Documentary winner has been selected the Austrian submission for the 2019 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. WALDHEIM’S WALTZ by Ruth Beckermann is the astute revisiting of the 1986 Waldheim affair that lead to the collapse of Austria’s comforting narrative of being the first nazi victim. „Clear, impassioned, but never polemical“, Variety

« ... drastically, essentially different»

The New Yorker took a close and sensitive look at Sara Fattahi’s Pardo-winning essay CHAOS: «It’s a conversational film about silence, a visually complex film about invisibility, a film about the possibility of making a film about the war and what’s been lost in it.»

«The fate of these people involves us all.»

Sudabeh Mortezai

When Nigerian sex workers in Europe manage to pay off their debts and buy their freedom, most of them have one overriding aim: to switch to the side of the pimps. A vicious system of winners and losers features women on both sides. In her second feature film, JOY, Sudabeh Mortezai depicts a relentless cycle where the only real aim is to survive, where morality and solidarity are luxuries that nobody in a system like this can possibly afford.

CHAOS wins Pardo d'oro Cineasti del Presente

„A film about feelings, not about fact“, that’s what Syrian born filmmaker Sara Fattahi wanted to convey by her second feature film CHAOS that takes us deep into the inner devastations which the war has inflicted upon her female protago-
nists. Forceful voices of the present that the Locarno Cineasti de Presente-jury honored with a Pardo d’oro.

Sudabeh Mortezai’s JOY to the Lido

The Venice Festival's Giornate degli Autori section will host the world premiere of Sudabeh Mortezai's much-anticipated new film JOY – the story of a young woman from Nigeria caught in the vicious cycle of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

«A mother and a friend – metaphors for Damascus»

In her second full-length film CHAOS Syrian filmmaker Sara Fattahi, who lives in Vienna, delves deep into the inner devastation which the war has inflicted upon her protagonists. CHAOS is a contender at the Locarno Cineasti des Presente competition. Read more in an interview with the director.
World Premiere on August 9

MADEMOISELLE PARADIS among 49 films recommended for EFA

The European Film Academy has released a list of 49 films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards 2018. On top of MADEMOISELLE PARADIS by Barbara Albert, the selection comprises also two Austrian co-productions – STYX by Wolfgang Fischer and 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON.

World premiere of ANGELO at Toronto Platform

Markus Schleinzer’s highly anticipated second feature film ANGELO is hosted for its world premiere at the Toronto platform competition. African-born Angelo Soliman (1721-96) and the fragments of his biography led the filmmaker into the Vienna of the Enlightenment and an examination of the longing for freedom, home and belonging.

ANGELO vies for Golden Shell at San Sebastián

The San Sebastián festival has unveiled the first titles to enter its 66^th main competition: ANGELO, Markus Schleinzer’s eagerly awaited second feature film, will contend for the Concha de Oro 2018 together with Claire Denis, Naomi Kawase, Simon Jaquemet, Kim Jee-Woon ...

«An extreme, excessive and ecstatic exploration of feeling.»

In his first English-language film TO THE NIGHT, Peter Brunner explores the inner world of somebody who is trapped in his suffering, condemned to extinguish the constant flaring up of his own destructive powers.

Special Mention to WELCOME TO SODOM at Filmfest Munich

Christian Krönes’ and Florian Weigensamer’s alarming documentary WELCOME TO SODOM about one if the most poisonous waste dumps on the planet returns from the Filmfest Munich with a Special Mention from the One Future Prize-jury.

«Today he’d be a must-have accessory.»

Markus Schleinzer

Markus Schleinzer, Palme d’or contender in 2011 with his directorial debut Michael, has finished shooting his second feature Angelo. A film about Angelo Soliman (1721–1796), who, abducted from Africa as a small boy, made his way into Viennese society. An enigmatic biography that inspired the filmmaker to shed some light on the idea of home and identity from a historical point of view.

«If an event is never described, it's as though it never took place.»

Christian Frosch

Until recently the name Franz Murer did not feature in Austria's collective awareness of history. The SS officer was instrumental in destroying the Jewish ghetto in Vilnius, and in 1955 he was returned to Austria from a Russian prison to be tried for his crimes. He wasn’t put to trial until eight years later. MURER – ANATOMY OF A TRIAL Christian Frosch has reappraised an outrageous case of post-war jurisdiction in Austria.

Underground Spirit Award to Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel

The Palic European Film Festival has announced Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel as the laureats of the 2018 UNDERGROUND SPIRIT AWARD assigned for exceptional work in the field of independent cinema.

Valencia Cinema Jove honors L'ANIMALE

Katharina Mückstein's second feature film L'ANIMALE wins the Prix CIMA at the Valencia Cinema Jove festival.

«What does being grown-up really mean?»

For his debut feature film Gregor Schmidinger has created a Nevrland between being a child and being grown-up, between reality and fantasy, between the genuine and the staged self. He sends his protagonists Jakob and Kristjan, offspring of Generation Y, into this world on a terrifying journey from the surface to their individual depths. A conversation with Gregor Schmidinger (director) and Ulrich Gehmacher (producer).

Peter Brunner returns to Crystal Globe Competition

The 53^rd Karlovy Vary FF (June 29 to July 7) has unveiled its official program.
Peter Brunner, winner of the Special Jury prize 2015, returns to the Crystal Globe Competition with TO THE NIGHT, his third feature length film and first drama filmed in English, that will celebrate its world premiere in the Czech spa town.

SAND AND BLOOD Best documentary at Espinho

Matthias Krepp’s and Angelika Spangel’s directorial debut SAND AND BLOOD was selected Best feature-length documentary at the Espinho Fest – New Directors | New Films Festival

La Valetta awards STYX and WELCOME TO SODOM

Wolfgang Fischer’s STYX garners two awards at La Valetta Film Festival, including the prize for Best Performance to Susanne Wolff and Best Cinematography to Benedict Neuenfels. The Best Cinematography award of the documentary competition went to Christian Kermer, DOP of WELCOME TO SODOM.

THE GREEN LIE awarded at Cinemambiente

“The film shows us how to be citizens and not consumers and reminds us that to effect change we must fight the battle together”, stated the jury honoring Werner Boote’s THE GREEN LIE with the Arcobaleno Social Cooperative Environment and Society Award of the Turin Cinemambiente festival.

«The central thread running through Justin's stories is abuse.»

A semester spent at Columbia University, where Justin P. Lange was studying directing and Florian Krügel film production, lay the foundation for their creative friendship and their joint feature film debut THE DARK. With the calm, carefully-composed camerawork of Klemens Hufnagl, the film treads the path least taken between the genres as it combines suspense and empathy, zombie-horror and drama.

Fipresci Prize to LIFE GUIDANCE

LIFE GUIDANCE by Ruth Mader, screened at the Cluj Napoca Transilvanian Film Festival
wins the Fipresci Prize, offered by the International Federation of Film Critics for a title in the section To Be or Not to Be Politically Correct?

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