Stunning success for young Austrian cinema: two of the five nominations for EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2011 - Prix FIPRESCI went to first-time directors from Austria.

2011 started out as a promising year for the young and up-and-coming generation of Austrian directors and the high expectations turned out to be accurate. During the whole festival year such first feature films enjoyed extraordinary international visibility and recognition.

THE FATHERLESS premiered in Berlin’s Panorama Special-section; first-time director Markus Schleinzer followed with the most prestigious invitation a filmmaker may get - the selection for the Palme d’or-competition in Cannes. Cannes also showcased Karl Markovics’ debut BREATHING in the Quinzaine des realisateurs-section, and in late September Sebastian Meise’s STILL LIFE ran for the Zabaltegi New Directors’ Award and won a special mention.

The fact that the selection committee for the EFA Discovery Award (comprising members of the European Film Academy and the FIPRESCI, the international federation of film critics) voted twice for a first feature film made in Austria is astonishing - it shows their approval of both the outstanding quality of these films competing for the nomination and the creative potential of the new generation of Austrian Filmmakers.
The European Film Awards ceremony will take place in Berlin on December 3.

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY - NOMINATIONS

BREATHING by Karl Markovics (epo-film)
supported by: Österreichisches Filminstitut, ORF, FISA, Cinestyria, Filmfonds Wien, Land NÖ

Roman Kogler, 19, is serving time in a juvenile detention center. He has already served half of his sentence, and could be released on probation, but his chances are poor: he doesn’t have family, and seems incapable of coping with society. After many failed attempts, Roman finds a probation job at the municipal morgue in Vienna. One day, Roman is faced with a dead woman who bears his family name. Even though it soon turns out that she is not his mother, Roman wonders about his past for the first time and starts looking for his mother.

with: Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Matousch, Gerhard Liebmann

MICHAEL by Markus Schleinzer (NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion)
supported by Unterstützung von: Österreichisches Filminstitut, FISA, ORF, Filmfonds Wien, Cine Tirol

Michael describes the last five months of 10-year-old Wolfgang and 35-year-old Michael’s involuntary life together.

mit: Michael Fuith, Christine Kain, Ursula Strauss, Viktor Tremmel, Gisela Salcher
 

EUROPEAN FILM AWARD - FICTION

The European Film Academy will announce the nominees for the European Film Award in early November. The nominees for the eight categories will be chosen out of 45 pre-selected films. Austria is represented by THE UNINTENTIONAL KIDNAPPING OF ELFRIEDE OTT by Andreas Prochaska.
 

EUROPEAN FILM AWARD - SHORT FILM

Josef Dabernig’s short film HYPERCRISIS recently showcased at the Venice Orizzonti-section is one of the fifteen contenders for Best European short film.