Mila has survived relatively unscathed after years of fighting the Nazi regime as a partisan in the forests of the southern Carinthian mountains. However, liberation only brings short-lived relief. Because after the war, the tide turns quickly. Andrina Mračnikar’s films show us what cannot be found in history books. In MILA/MARIJA we see how volatile perspectives on right and wrong can be in post-war times – and that for Carinthian Slovenes, although a war came to an end, their struggle for political recognition and equality never has done. 

AUSTRIAN FILMS is representing three films in the Best International Feature Film category. ROSE, directed by Markus Schleinzer, was selected as Austria’s entry for the 99th Academy Awards. EVERYTIME, directed by Sandra Wollner, will compete for Germany, THE STORIES directed by Abu Bakr Shawky for Egypt.

Shortlist announcement: December 15, 2026

Nominations announcement: January 21, 2027

Oscar ceremony: March 14, 2027

The unparalleled international visibility of Austrian filmmaking continues at full momentum at the Venice Film Festival (September 2-12):
Manuel Wetscher's feature debut EKLIPSE will celebrate its world premiere at Orizzonti. Two minority co-productions are also part of the 83^rd edition of the festival at the Lido di Venezia: OASIS by Jannis Lenz coproduced by Wega Film in Orizzonti and MY NOTES ON MARS by Lili Horvát co-produced by Amour Fou Vienna will open Giornate degli autori.

«Intimate, acutely observed and painfully honest»
Screen International 

«An excellent work being done both in front and behind the camera.»
The Film Verdict

«This is a striking debut»
Next Best Picture

«a very compelling and promising debut.»
International Cinephile Society

It gets dark on Earth whenever the moon obscures our view of the sun. And at the same time, this unusual configuration very briefly reveals things to the naked eye that would otherwise remain hidden. The filmmaker Manuel Wetscher has taken inspiration from the phenomenon of the total solar eclipse to cast his light today, in his debut film EKLIPSE, on the death of his father from AIDS back in the 90s. A summer holiday that two teenagers spend in a little Tyrolean mountain valley becomes a depiction of the ways that ignorance, fears and taboos can obscure a clear view of important truths.

The remarkable international run of Austrian films this year now continues across the Atlantic. This is the extraordinary Austrian appearance at this year’s TIFF Toronto International Film Festival (September 10-20). 

Special Presentations
•    GENTLE MONSTER by Marie Kreutzer
Centrepiece
•    EKLIPSE by Manuel Wetscher
•    EVERYTIME by Sandra Wollner 
Wavelengths Features
•    LONDON by Sebastian Brameshuber 

Rosa Friedrich is many things in MY FRIEND THE PORNSTAR: friend, protagonist, casting director, filmmaker, adventurer, researcher – the latter largely because in this hybrid documentary she ventures into numerous border zones. Prompted by her friend’s intimate desire, she plunges into a risky cinematic project, touches on a taboo zone of film production, experiments with AI and identity, and reflects on the power and responsibility associated with her position behind the camera.

«a relatable, kooky-kinky delight»
The Hollywood Reporter

«a playful, humorous, and thoughtful film»
International Cinephile Society

At Mia’s school, preparations are in full swing for an anniversary: 500 years of life without monsters, the victory of order over chaos – it’s definitely an occasion to be celebrated. But Mia is a rebellious spirit, and she has her doubts. She senses that there might be wilder, more fantastical facets to the world, so she starts doing some research. MONSTER MIA is a journey of adventure to the universe of otherness, brought to life in the Viennese animation studio arx anima under the direction of Verena Fels. 

MONSTER MIA, the new production from the Vienna-based animation studio arx anima, is celebrating its world premiere at the renowned Annecy Animation Festival on Friday June 26.

MONSTER MIA, a lighthearted adventure into otherness, was brought to life under the direction of Verena Fels. 

Harald Sicheritz still remembers his years at high school and the sudden sense that change was in the air. People in Austria who know the name Bruno Kreisky think of the 1970s, the heyday of Social Democracy and the Chancellor with the measured tones. It’s less well known that he was born in 1911 into a well-heeled Jewish family and was by no means predestined to build the foundations of his political career in the Young Socialist Workers. In BRUNO – THE YOUNG KREISKY, the filmmaker focuses on Kreisky’s (political) coming of age. 

Shining finale to a fantastic Cannes Film Festival: 

Sandra Wollner wins the Un Certain Regard Prize for her critically acclaimed third feature film EVERYTIME.

The Palme d'or competition contender THE DREAMED ADVENTURE by Valeska Grisebach, a minority co-production coproduced by EVERYTIME producer Panama Films wins the Jury Prize.

Noga Erez's music is so many things at the same time: with its roots in a range of different genres, it is closely entwined with her life, her fears, her rage, her vitality, her political stance and, above all, her relationship with Ori Rousso, her partner on stage and in her heart. Fascinated by the tension between creative drive and emotional ambivalence, the filmmakers Benji & Jono Bergmann observed the vibrant duo from Israel and accompanied them during an eventful period of their lives; in the hail of international politics, their film portrait NOGA reveals a sensitive space between the private and the political.

Palme d’Or contender GENTLE MONSTER has emerged as a big commercial success at the Cannes Market: the film has sold in more than 40 countries worldwide including a major multi-territory deal with Netflix for North America. Un Certain Regard top prize winner EVERTIME has been sold to 12 territories in Europe and Asia.

«One of the most haunting films of the decade.»
Indiewire

«This is cinema at its most necessary: unresolved, uncompromising, and fully alive.»
International Cinephile Society

«an exceptionally well-calibrated study of an untimely death and its aftermath.»
Screen Daily

«a brilliantly directed, highly enigmatic.»
Cineuropa

«A tough and unflinching social drama about the predators among us.»
Indiewire
 
«Kreutzer’s craftsmanship is once again much in evidence.»
The Hollywood Reporter
 
«Marie Kreutzer's grimly persuasive follow-up to the superb Corsage.»
Variety

A careless moment, an edge, an abyss. Jessi's fall in the morning light. Suddenly her little sister, her mother and her boyfriend have to keep on living with her absence.
Sandra Wollner’s cinema is not confined to storytelling in a classical narrative sense; instead, it traces states and perceptions, exploring attempts to find a modus vivendi when a person has been lost. In EVERYTIME, memories and an unlived future become entwined in a displaced reality that can admit the unthinkable in the face of the inconceivable.

COMPETITION
GENTLE MONSTER by Marie Kreutzer
World premiere: May 15 | 22:00 | Grand Théâtre Lumière

UN CERTAIN REGARD
EVERYTIME by Sandra Wollner
World premiere: May 18 | 11:30 | Salle Debussy 

Minority co-production  | COMPETITION 
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE by Valeska Grisebach
WP May 22 | 15:00 | Grand Théâtre Lumière

Illness, healing and health care systems have preoccupied the filmmaker and science journalist Kurt Langbein for decades. In 2012, he shared his account of being successfully treated for cancer in the TV documentary Miracle Healing. Now, in his highly personal feature documentary DYING FOR BEGINNERS, he explains that the illness has returned and depicts his showdown with mortality. In the context of today's high-tech medicine, he also appeals for a view of life that again accepts death as part of being human. 

It is not only on the actual election day that the contest to achieve power is marked by unpredictability. When Harald Friedl finished the first days of filming, his protagonist Andreas Babler was neither at the helm of Austria’s Social Democratic Party nor Vice-Chancellor of the Republic. Initially, the film was intended to focus on him as a political grassroots worker and mayor, but in June 2023 he became party leader, to everyone’s surprise, and was immediately faced with a general election. THE RACE accompanies a lone candidate and his team in the relentless pace of an election campaign, where the outcome is primarily dependent on the merciless media battle between content and effect. 

The pandemic didn’t just bring our everyday lives and social relationships to a near standstill—it also reduced the possibilities of documenting the world to almost zero. Filmmaker Juri Rechinsky found a solution: no crew, no director of photography, just a body cam mounted on the upper bodies of a wide variety of people, opening up an unfiltered view of their reality. Together with Mario Hainzl, he spent several years creating a PORTRAIT OF NOWNESS, edited from hundreds of hours of raw footage, which allows audiences to slip into the immediate perspective of the protagonists across contexts and continents.

This is our wonderful outcome at the 76th Berlinale:
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance to ROSE protagonist Sandra Hüller
photo: © berlinale

Giuseppe Becce Award + Special Mention for Prize of the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas to THE LONELIEST MAN IN TOWN

Label Europa Cinemas + 2nd Place – Panorama Audience Award (feature film) to FOUR MINUS THREE.

Congrats to the directors, producers and their teams!