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    IDFA 2020 with Masters and Best of Fests from Austria

    The prestigious Amsterdam documentary platform has conceived an online/on-site festival for its 33rd edition from Nov 18 to Dec 6. The IDFA Masters and Best of Fests selections include Hubert Sauper’s EPICENTRO, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Berlinale award winner NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD and Pavel Cuzuioc’s PLEASE HOLD THE LINE; two co-productions will also be on the festival screens: ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA and LOVE, IT WAS NOT.

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    Austrian films at international festivals

    Participations September - November 2020

    Austrian films on international screens

    Theatrical releases
    October 2016 – September 2020

    Festival Calendar + Corona Update

    Festivals online, postponed or cancelled? We're keeping you posted

    Gijón awards NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD

    Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel's black-&white journey into the Vienna's gangster milieu of the late 1960s won the Special Jury Award of the Albar Competition at the GIJÓN International Film Festival.

    Special Distinction to THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN

    The 20th New Horizons festival at Wroclaw honors Sandra Wollner’s main competition entry THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN with a Special Distinction.

    Festival L’Europe autour de L’Europe: two main prizes to films from Austria

    The Paris-based festival L’EUROPE AUTOUR DE L’EUROPE awarded two of its three main prizes to films from Austria:  The Prix Sauvage to DIE KINDER DER TOTEN by Kelly Copper and Pavol Liška, the Prix Présent to WELCOME TO SODOM by Florian Weigensamer and Christian Krönes

    Double prize to OSKAR & LILLI at Zagreb KinoKino festival

    Unanimous consent among the younger and the older audience of the KinoKino Festival in Zagreb: OSKAR & LILLI by Arash T. Riahi wins the Audience Award as well as the Children Jury Award. So far, the film has garnered no fewer than eight international awards.

    Duisburger Filmwoche honors Lisa Weber with Young Talent Award

    Lisa Weber, director of the Berlinale Panorma entry RUNNING ON EMPTY garners the Carte Blanche – Young Talent Award of the State NRW, that comes with a prize money of € 5,000 and the possibility of developing the next project with the mentorship of an experienced filmmaker. The film impressively succeeds in depicting the statics of social dynamics, pointed out the Duisburger Filmwoche jury intending to encourage the filmmaker to continue on the path she’s taken.

    Audience Award to GLORY OF THE QUEEN

    Tatia Skhirtladze and Anna Khazaradze’s documentary about four legendary female chess players from Georgia who revolutionized women’s chess across the globe is the Audience Award winner of the  Free Zone Film Festival – Slobodna Zona that took place at Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš (November 5 to 10, 2020).

    Filem’On Teen Screen Award to OSKAR & LILI

    The TEEN SCREEN AWARD of the Brussels Filem’On IFF for Young Audiences went to Arash T. Riahi’s OSKAR & LILLI. The young jury accounts for its choice: "The best film had the best camera work and the choice of actors made the film experience very real. The movie portrayed themes like deportation and foster families beautifully. Even though it touched upon heavy themes it still had it’ pleasant moments. It was a close call with another movie but we still choose this one."

    THE FEVER by Katharina Weingartner awarded Best Film at the BIFED IFF

    "THE FEVER portrays with craftmanship and excellent filmmaking skills a pressing and relevant issue that affects and kills hundreds of thousand women and men and children every year ..., stated the jury of the Fethi Kayaalp Grand Awardassigned to film director Katharina Weingartner at the BIFED International Film Festival for Ecological Documentary on the Turkish island of Bozcaada. Read full the statement

    World premiere of FOX IN A HOLE by Arman T. Riahi at the Warsaw FF

    Inspired by an outstanding teacher in a Viennese prison, Arman T. Riahi developed FOX IN A HOLE, the story of adolescents who have come into conflict with the law, a system that locks them up in order to make them better citizens and two idealists committed to open up doors into their future. FOX IN A HOLE is starring Aleksandar Petrović, Maria Hofstätter, Luna Jordan, Sibel Kekilli, and Andreas Lust.

    THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN is the Cinema Extraordinaire-winner at Bergen

    “A thought-provoking and controversial sci-fi fable from a new Austrian talent”, noted the jury. THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN, Sandra Wollner’s directorial debut, launched at the Berlinale Encounters, earlier this year is the winner of the Cinema Extraordinaire competition at the Bergen International Film Festival.

    Evi Romen’s WHY NOT YOU is one of the Zurich Golden Eye Award winners 2020

    Evi Romen’s directorial debut WHY NOT YOU wins the Golden Eye Award of the Focus Competition of the 16th ZURICH Film Festival."With its variety of themes WHY NOT YOU takes a risk that the main actor Thomas Prenn knows how to master at every point.”, stated the jury. A Special Mention went to the documentary WOOD by Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Michaela Kirst and Ebba Sinzinger.

    SAFETY123 awarded Best Culture&Nature Film

    The Echo Mountain Film Festival in Skopje honors Safety 123 by Julia Gutweniger and Florian Kofler as the Best Culture&Nature film of their 11th festival edition. “In the film, we can see how enormous efforts are made by environments related to increasing safety in the mountains. We get to know the details and a lot of effort in a very efficiently made film.”, stated the jury.

    World premiere of
    WHY NOT YOU
    by Evi Romen
    at the Zurich FF

    An old village in the Alps is the setting for this first time feature – the story of a young man, Mario, who seems completely out of place. Long time editor and writer, Evi Romen, is presenting her directorial debut at the Fokus Competition of the Zurich Film Festival. WHY NOT YOU produced by AMOUR FOU Vienna is starring Thomas Prenn, Noah Saavedra, Josef Mohamed, Ursula Scribano-Ofner.

    Two Best Film awards to LILLIAN

    Andreas Horvath’s "de-accelerated" road-movie is still on the road, garnering Best Feature Awards: LILLIAN won the Best Narrative Feature award at the Dumbo Film Festival in NYC and the Rand Award at the Kassel Randfilmfestival.

    DAVOS: Best Documentary at the Dolomitale

    Daniel Hoesl’s and Julia Niemann’s view on a small town in the Swiss Alps wins the Best Documentary Award in a small town if the Italian Alps. The Dolomitale Film Festival at Val Gardena (September 22 to 27) pointed out DAVOS as the outstanding documentary film of the festival. “Davos becomes a metaphor for our world today”, stated the jury.

    THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN wins First Step Award

    Sandra Wollner’s directorial debut, produced by Panama Film wins the FIRST STEP AWARD for Best Feature Length Film. “The director has succeeded in creating a very unique, unsettling, but also sensitive film, which inevitably confronts us with the great questions of human existence”, stated the jury.

    Special Mention to PLEASE HOLD THE LINE at the Astra FF

    Pavel Cuzuioc’s journey through four Eastern European countries reflecting on the human need for connection received a Special Mention in the competition for Best Film at the Astra film festival. The jury statement on PLEASE HOLD THE LINE, “This anthropological journey through a region presents a diverse snapshot of current society – one where like-minded habits and interests juxtapose with the devaluation of human communication.”

    QUO VADIS, AÏDA? by Jasmila Žbanić at Venice and Toronto

    Jasmila Žbanić’ new film sets off for two major destinations: After competing for the Golden Lion at the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2 to 12),  QUO VADIS, AÏDA?, coproduced by Austrian coop99 filmproduktion, will cross the Atlantic heading to its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (September 10 to 19). QUO VADIS, AÏDA? is part of the Contemporary World Cinema selection alonside five other films.

    SAFETY123 wins Silver Gentian

    DOK Leipzig winner SAFETY123, the feature debut by Julia Gutweniger und Florian Kofler
    was awarded the Silver Gentian for the best artistical contribution at the TRENTO Film Festival. The prize comes with a cheque for € 1,500.

    LOCARNO 2020 with contributions linked to the future and past of the festival

    The 73rd Locarno FF (August 5 to 15), designed to “gather films and viewers in the great digital Piazza and in local theaters” has included two Austrian contributions to its 2020 hybrid festival program: Mo Harawe’s short LIFE ON THE HORN as a contender in the international Pardi di domani competition, Michael Haneke’s THE SEVENTH CONTINENT as a landmark in the Journey through the Festival’s History selection.

    OSKAR & LILLI awarded at the Taormina Film Festival

    Arash T. Riahi's moving and tender story about two young refugees trying to cope with their harsh reality, has won the Premio Ciak Scuola awarded by the students' jury of the Taormina Film Festival. In total, this makes the fourth award at the fourth festival presence since the world premiere of OSKAR & LILLI at the MOP Saarbrücken.

    International Migration FF awards OSKAR & LILLI actors with Special Jury Award

    Leopold Pallua und Rosa Zant, the two first-time actors in Arash T. Riahi’s OSKAR & LILLI playing two young refugees searching to reconnect with their mother win the SPECIAL JURY AWARD of the International Migration Film Festival in ANKARA  “Their poignantly moving performances are the highlight of the film”, stated the jury presided by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

    Virtually, we are at Cannes:
    Marché du Film Online
    June 22 to 26

    The film world is meeting at Cannes again: From June 22 to 26, the Marché du Film Online is giving access to film professionals around the world. AFC – Austrian Films has opened its online booth, presenting new projects from Austria in search of world sales agents, distributors and festival curators.

    Visit our digital booth!

    Sudabeh Mortezai’s MACONDO is the ARTEKINO film of the month

    MACONDO, Sudabeh Mortezai’s first fiction film, is the ARTEKINO choice of this month.The 2014 Golden Bear nominee can be streamed for free throughout the whole month of July.

    PLEASE HOLD THE LINE premieres at Sheffield Doc/Fest

    PLEASE HOLD THE LINE by Pavel Cuzuioc celebrates its world premiere at the online edition of the SHEFFIELD DOC/FEST June 10 – July 10. Pavel Cuzuioc’s second feature documentary is an audiovisual allegory on communication reflecting that despite our countless tools for communication we still inhabit a modern day Tower of Babel.

    WEIYENA – THE LONG MARCH HOME wins Viktor DOK.deutsch Award

    "Moving, heart-rending, terrifying, but – in the final analysis – life-affirming", stated the jury of the Viktor DOK.deutsch Award of the DOK.fest Munich about Weina Zhao’s and Judith Benedikt’s feature debut WEIYENA – THE LONG MARCH HOME. The award comes with a prize money of € 5,000.

    DOK.fest MUNICH with two new films from Austria

    After CPH:DOX and Visions du Réel also DOKfest Munich is gathering its audience online:  The DOK.fest Munich @home edition 2020 includes the world premieres of WEIYANA – THE LONG MARCH HOME by Weina Zhao and Judith Benedikt and WIRED FOR MUSIC – INSIDE THE WIENER SYMPHONIKER by Iva Svarcová and Malte Ludin. The TV documentary VIRGINIA by Sascha Köllnreitner premieres as DOK.special Servus TV.

    DAVOS by Daniel Hoesl at Visions du Réel Nyon

    In reaction to the current restrictions related to the coronavirus, the Swiss documentary festival is following the example of  CPH:DOX  and will be hosting artists, films, audience and professionals online. Austrian filmmaker Daniel Hoesl “returns” to Switzerland with his essay DAVOS, a portrait of the famous resort which is renowned for its annual get-together of the rich and the powerful but proves to be quite different from what one might expect.

    BORN IN EVIN wins LOLA 2020 for Best Documentary

    The German-Austrian co-production BORN IN EVIN, co-produced by Golden Girls Film has won the LOLA 2020 in the Best Documentary category. There was even one more Austrian co-production among the three nominees: HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME by Thomas Heise, co-produced by  Navigator Film.

    Austrians on the CPH program

    F:ACT Award:
    WOOD by Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Michaela Kirst, Ebba Sinzinger (world premiere)
    Main Competition:
    EPICENTRO by Hubert Sauper (European premiere)
    Science Films:
    ROBOLOVE by Maria Arlamovsky
    SPACE DOGS by Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter

    Blissful Encounters in Berlin

    Special Jury Award from the Berlinale Encounters jury for her Sandra Wollner’s THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN.
    Special Mention to BERLINALE DOCUMENTARY AWARD nominee NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
    Teddy Award for Best Documentary to Austrian director Patric Chiha for his French production SI C'ÉTAIT DE L'AMOUR.

    NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD «… reconciles the underworld to the world above with the pure pleasure of cinema.»

    NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel – one of the 21 nominees for Best Berlinale Documentary –  was awarded a Special Mention in this first-rate documentary contest. We’ve got the wonderful statement of the jury: This film is a beautifully shot portrait of characters with intense and at times, hilarious stories of old bad boys. The burst into colors and songs reconciles the underworld to the world above with the pure pleasure of cinema.

    The Hollywood Reporter on THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN: A Berlin Hidden Gem

    “Sandra Wollner's drama about a 10-year-old android and her "Daddy" could prove to be one of the festival's most divisive”, wrote Alex Writman of The Hollywood Reporter. Find more reviews on Sandra Wollner’s second feature film, presented at the newly created Berlinale competitive section Encounters.

    Austrian world premieres at the 70th Berlinale

    We’re proud to present two Berlinale Documentary Award nominees and a second feature film in Encounters.
    Our world premieres:
    Sun 23 | Panorama: NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
    Tue 25 | Encounters: THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN by Sandra Wollner
    Tue 25 | Panorama: RUNNING ON EMPTY by Lisa Weber

    NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD and RUNNING ON EMPTY nominated for Berlinale Documentary Award

    Both Berlinale documentary entries made in Austria – NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel and RUNNING ON EMPTY by Lisa Weber – are among the 21 documentaries selected across all sections for the prestigious Berlinale distinction. The two Austrian PANORAMA contributions will be vying for the € 40,000 prize money along with new works from Rithy Panh or Jia Zhang-Ke.

    The Hollywood Reporter on EPICENTRO: «As aromatic as a cohiba cigar.»

    «(…) a film that weaves together vérité footage with voiceover philosophizing from Sauper himself and clips from an assortment of archive footage. In another filmmaker's hands, this might have become a message-heavy morass, but Sauper and his co-editor, veteran Yves Deschamps work the material with a remarkable fluidity and gracefulness that's consistently engaging and surprising», wrote Leslie Felperin on EPICENTRO, Hubert Sauper’s tender portrait of Cuba and winner of the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Prize.

    Sundance celebrates EPICENTRO

    Hubert Sauper, Austria's most adventurous and unpredictable documentarist and essayist, received the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for best Documentary at this year's Sundance festival for his film EPICENTRO.

    Three major awards at the 41st Max Ophüls Prize Festival

    Best Director Award to Johanna Moder’s ONCE WERE REBELS, Audience Award to Arash T. Riahi’s WHERE NO ONE KNOWS US and Best Short Film to DAS BESTE ORCHESTER DER WELT by Henning Backhaus.  The Saarbrücken juries have pointed out three productions from Austria and Maresi Riegner as Best Young Actress Award.

    Berlinale Encounters with THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN

    Encounters is a newly created competitve Berlinale section devoted to innovative cinematic visions. THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN by young director Sandra Wallner – the story of a machine and the ghosts we all carry within us – is part of the very first selection presented at this year’s 70th Berlinale (February 20 to March 1, 2020).

    BERLINALE Panorama invites new works from Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel and Lisa Weber

    The Berlinale Panorama unveils its first contributors – two of the works from Austria: Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel present their insightful and moving NOTES FROM THE UNDERWORLD, Lisa Weber’s daring, long time observation on teenage inertia in RUNNING ON EMPTY.

    Sundance 2020:  a direct hit into the epicenter

    EPICENTRO, the new documentary by Hubert Sauper, has been selected to be part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition by the 2020 Sundance Festival (January 23 to February 2). ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENEZUELA by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos, produced by Austrian producer Sepp R. Brudermann as a co-production between Venezuela, the UK, Brazil and Austria, is also among the 12 entries of the  Sundance documentary contest.

    World premiere of WHERE NO ONE KNOWS US at MOP Saarbrücken

    Austrian filmmaker and producer Arash T. Riahi presents his new fiction film at the Max Ophüls Prize Fiction Film Competition. OSKAR & LILLI is a bittersweet odyssey revolving around two Chechen refugee children who try to make the best of their situation, despite imminent deportation. Johanna Moder's ONCE WERE REBELS is also competing in the Fiction Film section; Anna Kirst's ARCHE NORA celebrates its world premiere in the Documentary Competition.

    Special Jury Prize to THE REMAINS – AFTER THE ODYSSEY

    The International Human Rights Film Festival in Paris awards THE REMAINS – AFTER THE ODYSSEY by Nathalie Borgers with the Special Jury Prize.

    Special Jury Award to SPACE DOGS

    The FIDOC Documentary Festival at Santiago de Chile honors SPACE DOGS by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter with a Special Jury Award pointing out that SPACE DOGS ­– is a film “that does not leave indifferent neither by its candor nor by its crudeness”.

    92nd Academy Awards: Sudabeh Mortezai’s JOY disqualified

    Two months after the submission of JOY as Austria’s entry for the International Feature Competition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences informed the Austrian selection committee that Sudabeh Mortezai’s film is ineligible because its dialogue is predominantly in English. The Austrian committee has protested.

    The New Yorker Magazine selects CHAOS by Sara Fattahi among Best Movies of 2019

    Richard Brody from the New Yorker has picked Cineasti del Presente winner CHAOS by Sara Fattahi among the most noteworthy films 2019. The list comprises 46 films in total and includes for the first time also 11 films that were not released in the US.

    IDFA 2019 with EARTH and MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN

    As the festival year draws to a close, the IDFA showcases two of the most successful Austrian documentaries of the year: EARTH by Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Masters) and MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN by Sebastian Brameshuber (Best of Fests). The German-Austrian co-productions HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME by Thomas Heise (Masters) and BORN IN EVIN by Maryam Zaree’s (Best of Fests) are also on the Amsterdam program.

    Awards to ANGELO and LILLIAN at Ljublijana and Gijon

    ANGELO by Markus Schleinzer wins a Kingfisher Award – Special Mention at the LJUBLJANA International Film Festival, LILLIAN by Andreas Horvath bags the Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the GIJÓN International Film Festival.

    Special Mentions to EARTH and SPACE DOGS

    EARTH by Nikolaus Geyrhalter receives a Special Mention at the L’Alternativa festival in Barcelona, SPACE DOGS by Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter a Special Mention from the jury of the New Waves program for non-fiction films at the Festival de Cine Europeo in Sevilla.

    Nathalie Borgers wins WIFTS Foundation Documentary Award 2019

    THE REMAINS: AFTER THE ODYSSEY by Nathalie Borgers garners the Documentary Award 2019 (Humanitarian) of the Women’s International Film & Television Showcase in Los Angeles. An enlightening film told with a deep understanding and sensitivity of both the complex issues of the crisis and the emotional impact on the relatives left behind, stated the jury. The Award is also in recognition of Nathalie Borgers’ entire body of work as a filmmaker of passion and integrity without restraint or comprise of the subject matter.

    MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN wins 3sat-Doku-
    mentarfilmpreis

    A mountain in motion ... Only a few days after winning the jury's Special Prize of the Vienna Film Award at the Viennale, MOVEMENTS OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN by Sebastian Brameshuber receives the 3sat-Dokumentarfilmpreis at the 43rd Duisburger Filmwoche.

    LILLIAN: Best Film + FIPRESCI at the Minsk IFF Listapad

    Two more awards for Andreas Horvath's feature debut LILLIAN: The Quinzaine des Réalisateurs entry took the Victor Turov Memorial Award for Best Film and the FIPRESCI Award at the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad.
    DE – EN

    Good-bye, Gustav Deutsch

    We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Gustav Deutsch who, in SHIRLEY – VISIONS OF REALITY, captivated us with his cinematic encounters with painting. The moving and the stationary image, the damaged as well as the intact and both the professional views and those of amateurs were all subject to the exploratory spirit and regard of this artist and thinker, who imparted the certainty that film is more than film.

    DOK Leipzig awards to ROBOLOVE and SAFETY123

    DOK Leipzig honors thought-provoking visions from Austrian filmmakers:  ROBOLOVE by Maria Arlamovsky receives the Gedanken Aufschluss Prize, awarded by a jury of young prisoners of the Juvenile Penitentiary Regis-Breitlingen. The Austrian-Italian co-production SAFETY123 by Julia Gutweniger and Florian Kofler wins the Golden Dove in the Next Masters Competition.

    Focus on Jessica Hausner at the Lincoln Center

    On December 6, Jessica Hausner’s LITTLE JOE will be released in the US by Magnolia Pictures. A good reason for New York’s Lincoln Center to focus on the complete works of the Viennese ”Miracle Worker“ (as the LC entitles the program), showcasing her five feature films, two shorts and an installation from November 8 to 10, 2019.

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