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    Toronto 2019: World premiere of NOBADI by Karl Markovics

    An old man and a young refugee – they couldn’t have less in common – meet by pure chance and get inextricably tied together. In his third feature film, his darkest one to date, Karl Markovics explores the fatal connections between identity and existence. NOBADI will make its first appearance on screen at  the 44th TORONTO IFF, celebrating its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema section.
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    INTERVIEW
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    «The point is to act in the present.»

    Karl Markovics
    The world is a small place for old Herr Senft in his little garden house, and now that he has lost his dog and last companion, it's a solitary existence as well. Chance brings a young Afghan into his house, and in just a few hours it is transformed for both men into the cave of the Cyclops, with no escape for either. NOBADI, Karl Markovics's darkest story to date, focusses on the fragility of identity, the legacy of failure to act and the chances of the present moment.

    Austrian films at international festivals

    Participations June - August 2019

    Austrian films on international screens

    Theatrical releases
    October 2016 – July 2019
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «A dog’s heart. A dog’s soul.»

    Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter
    Laika, the world's most famous dog astronaut, was a child of the Moscow streets. She did not survive her mission in the space capsule, but perhaps her spirit returned to our world: perhaps her descendants still roam the streets of the Russian capital to this day. Filmmakers Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter joined up with a pack of stray dogs in order to see Moscow at night through their eyes.

    Best Green Dox Award to EARTH

    The DOKUFEST at the Kosovar city of Prizren honors Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s EARTH with the BEST GREEN DOX Award. „A strong philosophical statement about human nature“, points out the jury.

    Variety: «An auspicious calling card for Vollrath»

    Patrick Vollrath has delivered on his promise of his Oscar-nominated short Everything Will Be Okay with his first feature-length title "7500" – which premiered at Locarno’s  Piazza Grande: «an undeniably visceral, well-executed debut feature, wrote Allan Hunter of Screen International. REad more of the Locarno reviews

    Locarno 2019: SPACE DOGS in Cineasti del Presente

    In their directorial debut Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter joined up with a pack of stray dogs in Moscow in order to discover the city through their eyes. In remembrance of the famous dog astronaut Laika, they interweave the wild lives of their animal protagonists with impressive archive footage from the space race in the 1960s. Patrick Vollrath's 7500, a German-Austrian co-production, will screen on the Piazza Grande.

    Sheffield International Award to Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s EARTH

    «In a remarkable way, the sheer scale and ambition of this project is matched by its humility towards its subject and subjects“, stated the jury of the newly created International Award intended to honor a new international non-fiction film challenging global perspectives. EARTH by Nikolaus Geyrhalter is the first winner of the Sheffield International Award.»

    Cannes 2019: Best Actress Award to Emily Beecham

    A red flower that makes people feel happy, a palm that makes us even more than happy!
    Emily Beecham who plays the lead character in Jessica Hausner’s LITTLE JOE wins the Best Actress award at the 72nd Cannes festival for her subtle and nuanced interpretation of Alice, a high-talented genetic engineer and loving single-mum of a 12-year-old boy.

    Best Feature Awards to L’ANIMALE and NEVRLAND

    Two Best Feature-Awards to Austrian movies on one weekend: The Mostra FIRE Barcelona has honored L'ANIMALE, by Katharina Mückstein with the FIRE!! Team Award for Best Feature Film. The TEL AVIV International LGBT Festival has picked NEVRLAND by Gregor Schmidinger as Best Narrative Feature.

    NYT on LITTLE JOE:  «a mordant, amusing movie»

    Thomas Sotinel of Le Monde wrote on LITTLE JOE: ... This does not prevent this virtuoso film from being irrefutably modern, from putting the sacrilegious audacity of science at the service of the most corrosive satire and the most vertiginous existential questions. More reviews

    LILLIAN: «A fascinating walk through a mysterious land.»

    The Austrian photographer and director combines his knowledge of the American Midwest and the Yukon in an enigmatic road movie — never was a term more descriptive — that is at once a portrait of female spirit and determination and a reflection on the loneliness at the heart of America today, wrote Deborah Young of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. more reviews

    KAVIAR at Sydney's Europe! Voices of Women in Film

    Launched by the European Film Promotion in 2016 EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM showcases ten European films by female directors at Australia’s premier international film festival. KAVIAR by Elena Tikhonova is part of this selection.

    JOY on Netflix

    JOY worldwide: As of May 24, 2019  Sudabeh Mortezai’s acclaimed second feature film JOY is available for the international audience all around the globe on Netflix . The only territories excepted are Austria and South Tyrol.
    INTERVIEW
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    «Sparkling and strange...»

    Jessica Hausner
    Alice’s son Joe satisfies her maternal needs, and in her career she has also achieved tangible success: the flower she has genetically engineered, Little Joe, is a beautiful sight which promises to bring happiness to everyone around it. But suddenly things seem to turn against Alice in almost indefinable ways. In her fifth feature film, LITTLE JOE, Jessica Hausner unleashes the forces of cinema only to have them combine in virtuoso fashion, creating on film a homage to doubt.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «A de-accelerated road movie»

    Andreas Horvath
    When her attempt to establish herself in New York fails, Lillian resolves to head back home to Russia. She sets off west on foot, crossing the American mainland to the Bering Strait, where Russia and the USA almost physically touch and where the dividing line between two days is drawn. Andreas Horvath’s LILLIAN traverses the layers of the continent as it follows the trail of a lonely wanderer in a road movie which appears to transcend forwards and backwards motion.

    Red carpet for a red lily: World premiere of LITTLE JOE in Cannes

    Jessica Hausner, a Cannes invitee since 1999, tops her performance at the Croisette with her first entry to the Palme d’or-competition and her first English-language film LITTLE JOE. Alice, a high-talented genetic engineer, has created a crimson flower of stunning beauty, but also inexplicable powers. A coop99 production with The Bureau (UK) and Essential Films (D) starring Emily Beecham, Ben Wishaw, Kerry Fox.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Jumping straight into the non-mundane.»

    Martin Monk
    Martin Monk wondered how far he could go with a road movie in short film format – and resolved to confront the clear formal challenge. In FAVOURITES he tells the story of an accidental encounter between a 17-year-old girl hitchhiker and a car driver who could be her father, a brief interaction between two generations and their unanswered questions about life. In fact the project has taken the student of directing at the Vienna Film Academy a long way: he has been awarded a place in the Cinéfondation series, the section for young talent at the Cannes Film Festival.

    Cannes 2019: Quinzaine des réalisateurs with LILLIAN by Andreas Horvath

    The 51st edition of the Cannes parallel section will host the world premiere of Andreas Horvath's LILLIAN, a road movie that goes straigth across the USA into the cold of Alaska.

    Cinema Planeta awards WELCOME TO SODOM

    WELCOME TO SODOM by Florian Weigensamer and Christian Krönes is the winner of the Youth Award at the Cinema Planeta festival in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca.

    FREE LUNCH SOCIETY
    nominated for
    Cinéma Positif Award

    The Festival du Cinéma Positif, taking place during the Cannes festival for the 4th time, has selected FREE LUNCH SOCIETY by Christian Tod among the ten documentaries vying for the Cinéma Positif Award. The 2019 selection focusses on the theme of social justice, prizes will be awarded in three categories: fiction, documentary and first feature film on May 23rd.

    THE BORDER FENCE awarded in Munich and Trento

    Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s clairvoyant essay about borders, portraying residents living close to the Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy has garnered the Jury Prize at the Trento Festival and the VIKTOR DOK.deutsch Award at the DOK.fest München.

    Filmkunstfest SCHWERIN awards THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET

    Marie Kreutzer’s Berlinale competition entry is heading on solid grounds. THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET  garnered two awards at the 29th Filmkunstfest Schwerin: the NDR Regiepreis and the Prize for Best Young Actress to Valerie Pachner.

    Grand Prix Cinéma du réel to MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN

    Sebastian Brameshuber's new essay is the portrait of a man and a place, observing a determined loner as he goes about his work inside and outside time. The Grand Prix of Cinéma du Réel has been unanimously attributed to MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN, "...Thanks to the elegance of his mise en scène and inventive use of the off-screen dimension...

    DEMOCRACY LTD by Robert Schabus at CPH DOX

    Robert Schabus examines the question why populist politicians meet with such strong resonance in European democracies. His new film DEMOCRACY LTD celebrates its world premiere as a contender in the F:ACT Award competition and as opening film of the focus on Europe. Also screening in Copenhagen: THE BORDER FENCE by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, SEA OF SHADOWS by Richard Ladkani.
    INTERVIEW
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    «Democracy means creating an open area for debate.»

    Robert Schabus

    Is his documentary film DEMOCRACY LTD Robert Schabus investigates the crisis in European democracy, focussing especially on the failure of the political elite to listen to the needs of the people. The filmmaker explored the situation in the run-up to the 2017 elections in France and Germany, analysed the aftermath of the referendums in Great Britain and Greece and looked closely at Austria, now with a right wing government, in an attempt to understand why populism has met with such powerful resonance in these democracies.

     
    INTERVIEW
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    «The first issue that struck me was that of invisibility.»

    Nathalie Borgers
    For her documentary film THE REMAINS – AFTER THE ODYSSEY, Nathalie Borgers proceeds from the statistics on refugees attempting to reach Europe and adds an individual, human dimension to the sober facts and figures. In her film, shot on Lesbos and in Vienna, she investigates the visible and invisible traces left by attempts to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing – on the coastlines, in the survivors and in those who provide what humanitarian help they can in exceptional circumstances.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Create a space where the present and the past overlap.»

    Sebastian Brameshuber
    Cliff’s garage, where he prepares used cars and second-hand parts for sale and export, is a very special place. And the Nigerian metal dealer, who has built up a business in Austria over the years all by himself, is an extremely distinctive character. In his essay MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN Sebastian Brameshuber creates a portrait of a man and a place, observing a determined loner as he goes about his work inside and outside time, thus bringing history and the present to life in the setting of the Erzberg iron ore mining region in Styria.

    Retrospectives RUTH BECKERMANN in Paris, Sarajevo, Bukarest ...

    The Musee d’art et d’histoire du Judaisme in Paris is hosting a Ruth Beckermann Retrospektive from April 4 to 7, opening with the most successful Austrian film at international festivals in 2018 THE WALDHEIM WALTZ.  Just recently, Ruth Beckermann was also the focus of retrospectives at the Sarajevo Winter Festival and the One World Romania festival in Bukarest.

    A GERMAN LIFE on stage in London

    A GERMAN LIFE, Brunhilde Pomsel’s compelling testimony about her youth and time as Joseph Goebbels’ secretary in the core of the Nazi power apparatus has been adapted for the stage by Christopher Hampton. The LONDON Bridge Theatre will be presenting the piece starring MAGGIE SMITH from April 6 to May 11, 2019.

    WELCOME TO SODOM wins Objectif d’or

    The documentary by Florian Weigensamer and Christian Krönes awarded Best documentary with the Objectif d'or at the Millennium Festival in BRUSSELS: "For us the most complete film, that is nearly telling the idealistic story about life and death, survival, about ethic … dramatic circumstances happening in one amazing and extraordinary microcosm."

    Guadalajara: Premio Maguey to Valerie Pachner

    The Guadalajara Festival Internacional de Cine has awarded Valerie Pachner for her mesmerizing performance in THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET with the Premio Maguey: "Pachner's performance startled and seared like no other in the Premio Maguey this year.", stated the jury.

    «A gripping, intelligent psychodrama»

    Marie Kreutzer’s Golden Bear competition entry THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET seen by the press:
    Variety highlights „a gripping, intelligent psychodrama“,  The Hollywood Reporter points out the „depth of insight that is rare in the cinematic treatment of this most misunderstood of diseases“. read more

    Berlinale 2019: Prize of the ecumenical jury to EARTH ...

    ... by Nikolaus Geyrhalter and two more distinctions to German-Austrian co-productions:  BORN IN EVIN by Maryam Zaree wins the Compass Perspective Prize, Thomas Heise’s Forum entry HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME the Caligari Prize. The jury statements ...
     

    THE WALDHEIM WALTZ awarded in Atlanta

    The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival awards Ruth Beckermann’s THE WALDHEIM WALTZ with the
    Documentary Jury Prize. The Building Bridges Jury Prize went to Austrian-Czech-Slovak co-production THE INTERPRETER by Martin Šulik.

    Berlinale 2019: DIE KINDER DER TOTEN wins FIPRESCI prize

    Performance artists Kelly Copper & Pavol Liska (The Nature Theater of Oklahoma) impressed the Berlinale film critics who awared the FIPRESCI Prize to their first cinematic work DIE KINDER DER TOTEN, a silent and gruesome march of the undead, inspired by the overwhelming novel of Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «We all function in a performance-oriented society.»

    Marie Kreutzer
    Lola does everything she can to disown her sister, while Conny does everything she can to compel attention from her sister. Marie Kreutzer’s THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET follows two women, at first sight such complete opposites, as they struggle with family links and the merciless professional world in their attempt to save themselves.

    The Guardian: «Geyrhalter proves again that he is a unique figure in world cinema.»

    „You’ve heard of climate change but this latest documentary-spectacle from Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter is about landscape change. Read more of the GUARDIAN-review on EARTH by Peter Bradshaw.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «The Earth's crust – its skin – is its most delicate organ.»

    Nikolaus Geyrhalter
    The concept of the Anthropocene Age, suggesting that humankind has become a greater influence on the planet than nature, is what prompted Nikolaus Geyrhalter to take a closer look in EARTH at the Earth's crust and the internal and external wounds which our drive for progress relentlessly requires.
    INTERVIEW

    «Film is a medium of transmission – not only of story, but of spirit. »

    Kelly Copper, Pavol Liška – Nature Theater of Oklahoma
    Elfriede Jelinek’s powerfully eloquent novel provided the literary basis for the film project DIE KINDER DER TOTEN , where the American performance artists Kelly Copper & Pavol Liska stage a gruesomely eccentric march of the undead in silent film format.
    INTERVIEW
    DE – EN

    «Es wurde für uns zur Prämisse, dass dieser Film unser Leben retten muss.»

    Für ihr Vorhaben, in der Obersteiermark gemeinsam mit der lokalen Bevölkerung im Genre des Heimatfilms zu experimentieren, wagten sich Kelly Copper & Pavol Liska an Elfriede Jelineks Textmassiv Die Kinder der Toten, ohne die deutschen Sprache zu beherrschen. Claus Philipp, künstlerischer Mitarbeiter und Dramaturg, legte durch seine vermittelnde Lektüre den Zugang ins sprachliche Dickicht des 666 Seiten umfassenden Opus magnum und war von Anfang an in der Aufbereitung des Terrains für ein einzigartiges Film-, Performance- und Publikumsprojekt eingebunden.

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