In her class Miss Novak warns her students against eating without awareness. Every morsel on a fork should be examined closely, every bite considered carefully. At some point, her students reach the stage where they can regard intake of food as a dispensable ballast on their journey to a better world. In CLUB ZERO, Jessica Hausner observes how power creeps up silently, and how faith quietly eats away at reason.
 

Jessica Hausner’s 6^th fiction feature is a Palme d’or competition entry at the 76^th Cannes festival (May 16 to 27). CLUB ZERO, starring Mia Wasikowska and Sidse Babett Knudsen, produced by Vienna-based coop99 filmproduktion, is celebrating its world premiere on Monday, May 22.

This is Jessica Hausner's  6^th artistic appearance in Cannes after LITTLE JOE (2019, Best Actress Emily Beecham), AMOUR FOU (2014), HOTEL (2004), LOVELY RITA (2001) and her short INTER-VIEW (1999).

Feminism is a young movement, and in that sense it has been fairly effective. But despite all the achievements and the urgent needs it addresses, the term itself somehow remains unpopular. Filmmaker Katharina Mückstein, who has experienced academic feminism as a formative school of thought, feels there is insufficient scientific expertise in a public debate that has become highly emotional. Her documentary FEMINISM WTF provides impulses for consideration – across a spectrum of shimmering colours – intended to move this urgent debate towards greater objectivity.

Silence is a tactic often employed within families. As was the case with Michaela, who was an adult when she instigated a radical break with the village where she grew up. Only the death of her father brings her and her eight-year-old daughter back to the old house from buried times. Achmed Abdel-Salam's exciting directorial debut SMOTHER explores dilapidated rooms and overgrowth gone rampant, prompting memories to flare up which unravel a painful secret.

World premiere of Kathrina Mückstein’s new documentary selected in Special Premieres at the 20^th CPH:DOX festival (March 15 to 26). This colorful view on the intersectional facets of feminism was produced by LaBanda Filmproduktion and NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion.
Also screening at CPH:DOX: A LITTLE LOVE PACKAGE by Gastón Solnicki, VERA by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel, ZOO LOCK DOWN by Andreas Horvath and MATTER OUT OF PLACE by Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s feature debut THE KLEZMER PROJECT, a Berlinale Encounters entry, wins the GWFF Best First Feature Award.
… an unexpected journey weaving real life events and mysticism… stated the jury
 
The documentary voyage from Argentina to Eastern Europa in quest of a music which is in a constant state of flux was produced by Austrian Nabis Filmgroup

photo directors: Berlinale

She is a musician who has undertaken detailed research into the origin of European Klezmer music; he's a cameraman, which provided him with a good reason to stay in touch with her. In their debut film THE KLEZMER PROJECT, Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann have staged themselves in the fictional setting of a possible love story in order to explore a music in a constant state of flux. It’s a documentary voyage from Argentina to rural areas of Eastern Europe – and in the process they tell a story of slow fading, of brutal disappearance and of survival and further life.

Encounters
THE KLEZMER PROJECT | ADENTRO MÍO ESTOY BAILANDO
by Leandro Koch & Paloma Schachmann
World Premiere: Feb 23 | 16.30 | Akademie der Künste

Panorama
STAMS by Bernhard Braunstein
World Premiere: Feb 19 | 13:00 | International

See full list

Its name has just five letters, the Austrian dream factory in the mountains of Tyrol. Every year, youngsters who are crazy about winter sports apply to the Stams Schigymnasium | Ski Academy to make their talent and technique fit enough to compete with the best in the world. In STAMS Bernhard Braunstein observes young people between the ages of 14 and 18 who are highly motivated in their endeavours to be among the very best, though this involves dedicating themselves to a ruthless performance principle.

Discover a great Austrian presence  at the 73^rd Berlinale (February 16 to 26) including
world premieres
Encounters
THE KLEZMER PROJECT by Leandro Koch, Paloma Schachmann
WP: February 24, 16:30, Akademie der Künste
Panorama
STAMS by Bernhard Braunstein
WP: February 19, 13:00, Kino International

© photo premiere STAMS: Elsa Okazaki
© photos premiere THE KLEZMER PROJECT: @filmsboutique

Even King Midas reached the limits of greed when it dawned on him that his desire to turn everything to gold by touching it also meant the end of food and affection. In LE FORMICHE DI MIDA the inescapable turning point we have reached in humanity’s dealings with the planet led Edgar Honetschläger on a journey into mythology and the history of ideas to create a multi-layered collage, prompting reflection on how and when things got out of hand between nature and humans.

For the first time since 2019 there was a full festival calendar – with no cancellations, no postponements and no substitution strategies.

Never before has Austrian filmmaking stood out with such diversity and excellence in all the key locations of the global market.

We’re proud and thrilled to share the awesome news! Vicky Krieps takes this top distinction for her superb interpretation of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth in Marie Kreutzer’s CORSAGE.

Congrats to Vicky Krieps, to the director of CORSAGE Marie Kreutzer and the whole team of this outstanding production!

The 14^th International Film Festival LES ARCS (December 10 to 17) dedicates this year’s focus to Austrian filmmaking with

• feature and short films from Austria in the Competition and the other festival sections
• new projects from Austria in the Industry Village
• with a strong presence of filmmakers from Austria in a compact and targeted European network meeting for production and exploitation

 

The EFA nominations confirm the exceptional film year 2022  for Austrian cinema and its women directors: Marie Kreutzer’s Cannes-laureate CORSAGE is in the race for European Film | European Director | European Actress; the Berlinale Best First Feature Film SONNE by Kurdwin Ayub is nominated for European Discovery. Winners will be announced on December 10, 2022.

Alma Mahler is often reduced to being labelled "the wife of...". At some point, when Gustav Mahler was no longer alive and his widow was in the process of forging plans for the future with the architect Walter Gropius, Oskar Kokoschka appeared on the scene. He would have been only too happy to be united with her in matrimony. That never happened. But what did take place was an explosive affair. Dieter Berner and screenwriter Hilde Berger, in their depiction of ALMA & OSKAR, present the battle between the sexes as it begins to erupt at the turn of the century… along with a musician whose talent has received little attention.