AUSTRIAN FILM COMMISSION - NEWS

CPH:DOX 2018 with Austrians vying for DOX: and F:ACT AWARD

The 16^th CPH:DOX screens two Austrian films in their prestigious competition programs: the thought-provoking WELCOME TO SODOM by C. Krönes and F. Weigensamer celebrates its world premiere in the DOX:AWARD main competition. F. Ofner’s and E. Hausberger’s WEAPON OF CHOICE, a gloomy success story of a pistol made in Austria, is selected for F:ACT Award.

Docu/Life Award for SAND AND BLOOD in Kiev

„Great cinema is able to unfold the hidden aspects of human life, by projecting light where there are shadows,“ stated the jury at the KIEV Human Rights Documentary Film Festival where SAND AND BLOOD by Matthias Krepp and Angelika Spangel stood out in the Docu/Life competition.

Austrian films at international festivals

Participations January - April 2018

Austrian films on international screens

Theatrical releases
October 2016 – April 2018

WALDHEIM’S WALTZ at Cinéma du réel

Ruth Beckermann’s Berlinale Best Documentary winner WALDHEIM’S WALTZ is part of the international competition of the 40^th Cinema du Réel. Only two years ago, Ruth Beckermann was awarded the Prix de la Scam and a special mention at the Young Award for her previous opus The Dreamed Ones at the Paris based festival.

«In order to understand this non-place, you have to look deeper.»

One of the most poisonous scrapyards on the planet can be found in the middle of Ghana’s capital. Electronic scrap is brought here by the container-load, and the people who recycle it earn a pitiful living, while the air is polluted, the water is poisoned, and the city has been brought to the verge of ecological collapse. In the middle of the garbage, filth and chaos of Agbogbloshie, Christian Krönes and Florian Weigensamer expose a microcosm and the orderly system which governs it in WELCOME TO SODOM, sending an alarming signal to Western consumers.

«Our aim was to make a film about the Glock and not against the Glock.»

Fritz Ofner, Eva Hausberger

Whether on the right or the wrong side of the law, in military conflicts or for personal defense, the fame of the Glock pistol knows no bounds. On the American private firearms market it registers over a million sales each year, while in the music scene there it is rare to see a brand name used so often as a synonym for the object in question. But in Austria itself people know little about the international success story of this weapon made in Austria. Now Fritz Ofner and Eva Hausberger plan to change that with the documentary WEAPON OF CHOICE.

THE THIRD OPTION awarded at Bergamo

Thomas Fürhapter's THE THIRD OPTION, a documentary critically examining our concepts of normality and disability garners the Best Documentry Prize of the Visti da Vicino-Section at the 36^th Bergamo Film Meeting. The award assigned by the festival audience is to honor the independent filmmaking.

Best Berlinale Documentary THE WALDHEIM WALTZ

Ruth Beckermann wins the GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL – DOCUMENTARY AWARD selected out of 18 nominated films from the different Berlinale programmes, endowed with € 50,000. Wolfgang Fischer’s STYX took three awards including the EUROPA CINEMAS BERLINALE LABEL, the Prize of the ECUMENICAL JURY for the films screened at the Panorama and the HEINER CAROW Prize.

Panorama Audience Award with Austrian runner-ups

Austrian directors Wolfgang Fischer (STYX) and Katharina Mückstein (L’ANIMALE) came in second and third in the race for the Panorama audience trophy.

Clear, impassioned but never polemical

... that’s what Variety stated about Ruth Beckermann’s astute revisiting of the 1986 Waldheim affair that lead to the collapse of Austria’s comforting narrative of being the first nazi victim. Read more about the Austrians on the Berlinale screens.

68^th Berlinale with Ruth Beckermann, Katharina Mückstein, Ludwig Wüst, Werner Boote ...

... and three more co-productions add up to an outstanding Austrian presence at the Berlinale 2018: Forum with THE WALDHEIM WALTZ by R. Beckermann and DEPARTURE by L. Wüst. Panorama Special with L’ANIMALE by K.Mückstein, Culinary Cinema presents W. Boote’s THE GREEN LIE.

«I see the Waldheim affair as a conflict of generations»

Ruth Beckermann

Kurt Waldheim’s lapse of memory was the beginning of a process which saw the Austrian narrative – that the country was the first victim of National Socialism – eventually eroded. His campaign for the 1986 presidential election polarised the country. Ruth Beckermann, an activist at the time, has now edited Austrian and international archive material for THE WALDHEIM WALTZ to create a film which, revisits the conflicts in collective and individual memory.

«The point is to move towards an alliance between reason and sensitivity.»

Katharina Mückstein

Mati is about to leave high school, on the verge of unlimited opportunities: unpredictable perspectives in the city or the security of the countryside? Female identity or male role models? Listen to her inner voice or follow the expectations of others? Katharina Mückstein's second feature film, L’ANIMALE, exposes life as a intermediate area which floats between certainties, social constraints and lust for freedom, while again and again throwing up new options to seize and risks to take.

«I move around in a painting.»

In Ludwig Wüst’s DEPARTURE two strangers reach a tacit understanding to journey together for a time, which leads them to a radical turning point.

«Producing goods in an unfair way which harms the environment has to be forbidden. »

In THE GREEN LIE Werner Boote not only demonstrates how major companies use huge advertising budgets to make their images “greener” so they can continue unabated to destroy resources and the environment; he also makes the conscious point that sustainable climatic and environmental protection can only be achieved by political means and not just by more aware behaviour on the part of consumers.

«A spotlight on the dynamics between us brothers»

After their second-oldest brother committed suicide, Stefan Bohun and his brothers embarked upon a journey together – first, to discover more about depression and the pharmaceutical treatment available to combat it, but increasingly in an attempt to find out more about their relationship with one another, and about the brother missing from the group now… And to laugh and weep at the places that had been so significant to him, as a means of saying farewell. An interview with Stefan Bohun (director) and David Bohun (producer).

Mumbai top award to ARE YOU SLEEPING, BROTHER JAKOB?

The 15^th Mumbai international film festival awards Stefan Bohun’s moving essay about grief and brotherhood with the Golden Conch for best documentary film.“A wakeup call to notice the things unsaid,” stated the jury.

COPS sets off with 4 awards

Amazing take-off for Istvan's feature debut COPS: after its world premiere at the festival Max Ophüls Prize and immediate follow-up at the FIPA Biarritz, COPS garners Audience Award, Best Young Actor Award for a secondary role and the award for the socially relevant film at Saarbrücken and, to top it all, the main prize FIPA d'OR at Biarritz .

«Da ist eine Spirale in Gang.»

Stefan A. Lukacs (aka Istvan)

Ein junger Elite-Rekrut verschuldet aus Unerfahrenheit eine Eskalation mit tödlichem Ausgang. Versagen oder Heldentat? Manche Kollegen sehen so, manche anders. Istvan beleuchtet in seinem Regiedebüt COPS den Polizeiapparat in seiner Komplexität, ein System, das keine Schwächen zulässt und den schmalen Grat, der die Konfrontation sucht oder auch daran vorbeiführen kann

Three Austrian films vying for Max Ophüls Prize

The main competition line-ups of the 39^th Max Ophüls Prizefestival at Saarbrücken include three Austrian world premiers:

COPS by Istvan,
SORCERER by Sebastian Brauneis and
Stefan Bohun’s documentary ARE YOU SLEEPING, BROTHER JAKOB?

L'ANIMALE by Katharina Mückstein at Berlinale PANORAMA

The Berlinale has announed the first Austrian entry to the 68th Berlinale: L'ANIMALE premieres at Panorama.Katharina Mückstein’s second full-length feature film delves into the intermediate areas, between urban and rural life, on the verge of adulthood, at a possible turning point in the life of a normal family confronting the conflicting forces within us: passion, desire, reason.

Year in Review 2017

In one sense 2017 did not represent a surprise for Austrian films: it was yet again a fine year, with good representation at the major film festivals, a healthy balance between fictional and documentary productions, and a multiplicity of narrative forms. As the year unfolded we discovered once more that our expectations had been fulfilled while at the same time we had been treated to the unexpected.

«The only limitations to her life that she accepts are the ones she sets herself.»

What began for Ruth Kaaserer as a meeting with an elderly woman in a male-dominated competitive sport turned into an encounter with a fascinating individual who perceives her life as an adventure. A respectful interplay between proximity and distance has given rise to GWENDOLYN, the portrait of a woman with endless facets and contrasts.

IDFA Amsterdam celebrates 30^th edition with a double for UNTITLED

Michael Glawogger’s images from his last, uncompleted journey brought to a powerful and poetic essay by Monika Willi is not only part of the IDFA 2017 Masters-selection, UNTITLED is Victor Kossanovsky’s pick for the anniversary sidebar The Visual Voice. Also at IDFA: SAND AND BLOOD by Mathias Krepp and Angelika Spangel in the student documentary competition.

3sat Doc Award for ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE

Flavio Marchetti’s directorial debut ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE wins the 3sat Dokumentarfilmpreis (€ 6,000) for the best German speaking documentary at the 41^stFilmwoche DUISBURG.

COLD HELL wins Golden Monster

Stefan Ruzowitzky’s gripping action thriller COLD HELL involving a female taxi driver with Turkish roots in a duel with a serial killer, garners the Golden Monster at the Melbourne Monster Fest.

UNTITLED awarded Cinematic Documentary

The 62^nd Cork Film Festival honors UNTITLED by Michael Glawogger and Monika Willi with Cinematic Documentary Award.

«...a haunting, ever-timely reminder»

...wrote the Los Angeles Times about A GERMAN LIFE by Christian Krönes, Olaf S. Müller, Roland Schrotthofer, Florian Weigensamer theatrically released in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Town Center 5 on November 10. This portrait of a unique witness of the 20^th century is also among the 170 entries to the Oscar race for Best Documentary.

«It was a bit like Noah's Ark.»

Flavio Marchetti

As a rule Flavio Marchetti takes the role of the producer in the La Banda Film Collective. With ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE has turned his hand to directing for the first time, devoting his attention to a subject which has been close to his heart since early childhood, even though a chance visit to the Vienna Animal Shelter triggered his filmic observation of the affinities between people and animals.

«How does this woman manage to be so clear and hard towards herself?»

Julian Roman Pölsler

A few years before The Wall, Marlen Haushofer wrote the novella Wir töten Stella (literally We Kill Stella), where a narrator reviews the circumstances surrounding the death of a young girl who has been run over by a truck. The edifice of the solid, middle-class family where 19-year-old Stella comes to stay for a year as a student is soon revealed as a merciless trap; each member of the family betrays the young woman in a different way. A conversation with Julian Pölsler about the second part of his Haushofer Trilogy.

HIDDEN RESERVES wins a Silver Skull

The Morbido Film Fest in Mexoco City handed over a Silver Skull to Valentin Hitz, honouring HIDDEN RESERVES as the most outstanding global feature film of the festival.

Three international premieres at Filmtage HOF

Julian Pölsler’s new Marlen Haushofer adaptation KILLING STELLA (after The Wall in 2012, Flavio Marchetti’s documentary ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE and GATEKEEPER by Lawrence Tooley and Loretta Pflaum are the three new films made in Austria celebrating their international premiere at the 51^st HOFER Filmtage (October 24 to 29)

Rome, Munich ... THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS keeps winning

The federal association of German film directors awards Adrian Goiginger’s directorial debut with the Metropolis-Preis for best first feature, Verena Altenberger took the distiction in the Best actress category. THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS was also selected Best Film in the Alice nella città-sidebar of the Rome FEsta del cinema.

„It is a heart-taking, crude and tough film“

The JIHLAVA Documentary Festival grants the Silver Eye Award to SAND AND BLOOD by Matthias Krepp and Angelika Spangel. The jury stated, "The film presents a story about Iraqi and Syrian war conflicts and its refugees by using self-shot images and home videos ...

MADEMOISELLE PARADIS takes main award at Filmkunstfest

Barbara Albert's sensitive portrait of the remarquably talented blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, set in Rococo Vienna under the reign of Maria Theresia, garners the main prize at the Filmkunstfest Sachsen Anhalt.

Special Mention to UNTITLED at Docs MX

UNTITLED, Michael Glawogger's footage from an uncompleted journey brought to an extraordinary essay by Monika Willi received a Special Mention by the jury of the Docs MX, the documentary film festival of MExico City.

LIFE GUIDANCE on a flash forward move to Busan

Ruth Mader’s unsettling dystopia is among the 37 European films participating in the Europe! Umbrella at Asia’s major festival events. LIFE GUIDANCE celebrates its Asian premiere within the Flash Forward selection that focusses on non-Asian filmmakers who stand out for their inventive apporaches to storytelling.

«Looks to be a high-profile festival run.»

Barbara Albert's 5^th feature film MADEMOISELLE PARADIS celebrated its first encounter with the European audience at the San Sebastián festival and enchanted not only Variety critic Guy Lodge.

Flahertiana honors Michael Glawogger

The Russian Flahertiana Documentary Festival commemorates Michael Glawogger with a Special Award of the Jury and the Flahertiana Organizing Commitee for his contribution to the documentary cinema. UNTITLED by Monika Willi and Michael Glawogger had been part of this year’s Flahertiana international competition.

THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS wins First Steps Award

Adrian Goiginger

Adrian Goiginger's directorial debut THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS garners one of the most prestigious distictions for young German speaking cinema. The First Steps Award is endowed with € 25,000. "One of the most moving pictures of the year", stated the jury.

42^nd TIFF with world premiere of MADEMOISELLE PARADIS and more ...

Barbara Albert’s eagerly awaited fifth feature film MADEMOISELLE PARADIS has set off for world premiere at the Platform competition. Four more Austrian co-productions are on the schedules of Masters, TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema. Find out the screening dates...

Views from the world premieres in Venice and Toronto

LIFE GUIDANCE by Ruth Mader and MADEMOISELLE PARADIS by Barbara Albert celebrated their world premiere on September 8, one in Toronto, the other one in Venice. Read what the critics said.

HAPPY END: Austria’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film

Oscar winner and two-time Oscar nominee Michael Haneke prepares for another Oscar race: His Cannes competition entry HAPPY END has been selected the Austrian submission for the 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

«I hate political correctness. »

The people in LIFE GUIDANCE have subjugated themselves to the credo of self-optimization and handed their private lives over to an agency. That would be disturbing enough. But Ruth Mader has tightened the screw by setting her dystopia in a period which seems well within reach of the present day. We talked to director Ruth Mader.

Ruth Mader’s LIFE GUIDANCE at Giornate degli Autori

Society is divided into minimum recipients and top achievers, private sphere does no longer exist. Ruth Mader has created a disturbing dystopia and ... the even more unsettling thing – this hollow new world is set in a future more than similar to our present. The world premiere of LIFE GUIDANCE will be celebrated at Giornate degli autori in Venice.

«Being able to see would not bring her more freedom.»

MADEMOISELLE PARADIS takes us to Rococo Vienna and the remarkably talented blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, who is torn between her extraordinary musical talent and her desire to live the life of an ordinary young woman within the rules of a rigid society.

MADEMOISELLE PARADIS in Toronto and San Sebastián

After the world premiere in TORONTO (Platform competition), Barbara Albert’s 5^th feature film will head to SAN SEBASTIÁN as a contender of the Golden Shell competition. MADEMOISELLE PARADIS takes us to Rococo Vienna and the remarkably talented blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis who is torn between her extraordinary musical talent and her desire to to live the life of an ordinary young woman within the rules of a rigid society.
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«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.

«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.

«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.

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