AUSTRIAN FILM COMMISSION

World premiere of CHASING THE LINE at Zurich Film Festival

Franz Klammer’s historic Olympic downhill race of 1976 revived on the big screen: a gala night will be dedicated to the world premiere of Andreas Schmied’s vibrant CHASING THE LINE at the 17^th ZFF. Another gala screening for Annecy entry WELCOME TO SIEGHEILKIRCHEN and two contenders to the Fokus competition – GREAT FREEDOM and ROOM WITHOUT A VIEW – add to a strong Austrian presence at this year’s Zurich Film Festival (Sept 23 to Oct. 3)

Austrian films sweep 3 awards at SCHWERIN Filmkunstfest

A remarkable closing ceremony for Austrian filmmakers at the Filmkunstfest Mecklenburg Vorpommern in the German town of Schwerin with no less than three awards: David Clay Diaz garnered the Flying Ox Award for best feature film for his directorial debut ME, WE Arash T. Riahi followed with the LEO Children & Youth Film Award for OSKAR & LILLI and Hubert Sauper’s EPICENTRO took the prize for Best Cinematography.

Austrian films at international festivals

Participations August - September 2021

Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film
Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor Georg Friedrich
CICAE Arthouse Cinema Award

Andreas Horvath is mentor of the efp Future Frames session 2021

Austrian director Andreas Horvath is this year’s mentor at the efp Future Frames meeting for young talents at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The director of Lilian (Cannes, Director’s Fortnight 2019), Earth’s Golden Playground and This Ain’t No Heartland will hold a master class and give insight into his cinematic approach and visual language.

KARINA RESSLER is member of the Locarno First Film Jury

As an important place for young talent and discoveries, every year the Locarno Film Festival invites a jury composed of three personalities from the world of cinema to award the best first films presented as international or world premieres in all the sections (except Semaine de la Critique and Panorama Suisse).This year it's up to Austrian editor Karina Ressler, director and producer Amjad Abu Alala and filmmaker Katharina Wyss to judge the first time entries at the Locarno festvial.

GREAT FREEDOM wins Jury Prize at Un Certain Regard

Sebastian Meise returns from Cannes with one of the top awards of the Un Certain Regard section. The jury under the presidency of Andrea Arnold awarded Sebastian Meise’s captivating drama GREAT FREEDOM with the Jury Prize. This second feature film starring Franz Rogowski and Georg Friedrich, produced by Austrian FreibeuterFilm and German Rohfilm Productions, was one of 20 contenders in a line-up that refocused on the discovery of emerging filmmakers this year.

THR on GREAT FREEDOM: «Stark, shocking and beautiful.»

The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney wrote, Chronicling an ignominious chapter in queer history, Great Freedom is also a contemplative psychological study of the effects of incarceration, and beyond that, an unconventional love story, tender but unsentimental. read more

LOCARNO 2021 with new films from Stefan Ruzowitzky and Peter Brunner

The 74^th Locarno Festival (August 4 to 14) has announced its selection that includes two new films from Austria. Stefan Ruzowitzky will present HINTERLAND on the Piazza Grande, Peter Brunner’s LUZIFER is a contender in the main competition for the Pardo d’oro 2021. The Swiss, German and Austrian co-production MONTE VERITÀ will also celebrate its world premiere on the Piazza Grande.

MUBI signs multi-territory deal for GREAT FREEDOM

Streamer and theatrical distributor MUBI has signed a multi-territory deal for Sebastian Meise’s second feature GREAT FREEDOM, which premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard. The deal closed with sales outfit The Match Factory covers North America, UK, Ireland, LATAM (excluding Mexico), Turkey and India.

JESSICA HAUSNER is part of the jury of the 74^thCANNES festival

Together with jury president Spike Lee, five women and 3 men of seven nationalities, coming from five continents, will judge the 24 films of the 2021 international Competition and award the PALME D’OR 2021.

Cannes 2021: GREAT FREEDOM and MONEYBOYS at Un Certain Regard

The Cannes Festival – this year scheduled for a summer edition from July 6 to 17 – has announced its Official Selection 2021: We are thrilled to announce that two Austrian co-productions will be part of the Un Certain Regard selection 2021: GREAT FREEDOM by Sebastian Meise and MONEYBOYS by C. B. Yi.
Lukas Valenta Rinner’s new project LANDSCAPES OF FEAR is invited to the Cinéfondation’s L’Atelier, Magdalena Lauritsch’s (not yet finished) debut RUBIKON is one of the seven genre films picked for the Frontières Buyers Showcase at the Marché du Film.

Screen International on SNOTTY BOY: «Meticulous and witty»

Here are the first press reviews on SNOTTY BOY after its world premiere at the Annecy Festival.
Screen International: meticulously and wittily detailed and like Deix himself, confrontationally iconoclastic, fearlessly tackling religious and social mores, and skewering hypocrisy and bigotry.
Deadline: an affectionate, playful homage to Deix

SNOTTY BOY, the first Austrian feature-length animation film, premieres at Annecy

It's an absolute first: SNOTTY BOY, inspired by characters created by late Austrian caricaturist Manfred Deix, is the first feature length animation film produced with an Austrian funding majority. Which makes us all the more proud to announce that SNOTTY BOY has been selected to celebrate its world premiere in the main competition of the top-notch festival for animated films the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Anne Laurent-Delage to be new Executive Director of the AFC

The board of the Austrian Film Commission has resolved unanimously that the Deputy Director of the AFC, Anne Laurent-Delage, who has been responsible for international relations for many years, will take the position of Executive Director from 1 July 2021.

LILLIAN wins Best Film Award at Padova

Andreas Horvath's intriguing road-movie LILLIAN entered the festival circuit at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight in 2019 and keeps on travelling. The 8^th Detour Film Festival in the Italian city of Padova honored LILLIAN with its Best Film Award, pointing out that the film is a pure cinematic experience, a fascinating and radical cinematic and existential journey that pushes the viewer to revise their physical and conceptual maps.

Deutscher Kamerapreis to Christine A. Maier

Austrian DoP Christine A. Maier wins the Deutscher Kamerapreis in the category fiction film for her outstanding work in Jasmila Žbanić’ Oscar nominated QUO VADIS, AIDA? Christine A. Maier's camera moves with the action, it races, pauses (…), opens spaces, looks, looks away, it captures emotions and creates understanding and comprehension, stated the jury.

THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN awarded at Fantasporto

Sandra Wollner’s second feature film, THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN, launched at the Berlinale Encounters 2020, wins the Special Award of the Jury at the 41^st Fantasporto Film Festival. This is the first time a woman wins one of the top fantasy awards of the festival.

World premiere of A CLOWN, A LIFE at DOK.fest Munich

Harald Aue’s portrait of Bernhard Paul and his Circus Roncalli, is also a homage to the poetic art of clowning. A CLOWN, A LIFE has its world premiere in the DOK.panorama section of the 2021 DOKfest Munich online edition (May 5 to 23). WOOD by Monika Lăzurean-Gorgan, Michaela Kirst, Ebba Sinzinger will be screening at DOK.focus Empowerment. See full list of Austrian (co-)productions at Munich.

PLEASE HOLD THE LINE wins FIPRESCI Prize

Pavel Cuzuioc’s second feature documentary pointed out by the film critics: PLEASE HOLD THE LINE wins the FIPRESCI Prize at the goEAST Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. “The film shows”, stated the jury, “intense human relationships that normally appear to be simple everyday interactions.”

Independent Spirit Award to QUO VADIS, AIDA?

Jasmila Žbanić QUO VADIS, AIDA? picked up the Independent Spirit Award in the Best International Film category. The annual Independent Spirit Awards ceremony traditionally held shortly before the Oscars, honors outstanding achievements in independent filmmaking. QUO VADIS, AIDA?, one of the five 2021 Oscar nominees for Best International Feature Film, was co-produced by Vienna-based coop99 filmproduktion.

52^ndVisions du Réel with world premieres of SOLDIER AHMET and THE BUBBLE

The 52^ndVisions du Réel Festival at the Swiss town of Nyon kicks off its second “Corona” edition offering a hybrid festival format from April 15 to 25, 2021. Two Austrian (co-)productions are to celebrate their world premiere: Jannis Lenz presents his first feature SOLDIER AHMET within the Burning Lights Competition, the Swiss-Austrian co-production THE BUBBLE by Austrian director Valerie Blankenbyl is a contender in the International Competition.

WHY NOT YOU and SPACE DOGS are the Bolzano winners

Two Austrian winners at the 34th Bolzano online Film Festival: Evi Romen’s WHY NOT YOU takes the Prize for Best Feature Film “for its courageous approach to the story of an outsider” and the terrific performance of its lead actor. The Prize for Best Documentary went to Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s SPACE DOGS, “a powerful film”, as the jury puts it, “about the absurdity and cruelty of human action and about innocence, tenderness and the natural brutality of animals”

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QUO VADIS AIDA? nominated for Best International Feature Film

The Oscar race enters its last round, the nominations are out: QUO VADIS AIDA? by Jasmila Žbanić is nominated for Best International Feature Film. QUO VADIS AIDA? was co-produced by coop99 filmproduction. On top of the financial support, Austrian artists provided a major creative input with Christine A. Maier (DoP), Hannes Salat (production design), Michaela Payer (make-up/hair designer), Thomas Hollaus (gaffer), Edita Malovcic in the role of Vesna and many more.

Austrian films at the EFM online

The BERLINALE Industry Event 2021 gathers film professionals around the world online and opens its virtual European Film Market.
Eight Austrian films are booked on EFM screens: AUSTRIA2AUSTRALIA by Andreas Buciuman, Dominik Bochis |DAVOS by Daniel Hoesl, Julia Niemann | FOX IN A HOLE by Arman T. Riahi | GLORY TO THE QUEEN by Tatia Skhirtladze, Anna Khazaradze | PLEASE HOLD THE LINE by Pavel Cuzuioc | RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS by Michael Kreihsl | THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH by Elke Groen | WHY NOT YOU by Evi Romen

Goodbye, Peter Patzak

We are deeply sad to learn that Austrian filmmaker and painter Peter Patzak has passed away. Peter Patzak (1945-2021) made Austrian TV history by creating the legendary satirical crime series Kottan ermittelt (1976-84) together with author Helmut Zenker. He was a prolific director working for both TV and cinema, first achieving international acclaim with Kassbach at the Berlinale 1979. From 1993 to 2003 he also was professor of Directing at the Film Academy Vienna.

Screenings@EFM 2021

The Industry Event of the 71^stBerlinale is taking place from March 1 to 5, 2021. Eight Austrian films are available in the virtual cinemas of the European Film Market: AUSTRIA2AUSTRALIA · DAVOS · FOX IN A HOLE · GLORY TO THE QUEEN · PLEASE HOLD THE LINE · RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS · THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH · WHY NOT YOU
See screening dates

THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN awarded at the Boston Sci-Fi FF

One year after its Berlinale world premiere, Sandra Wollner's THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN is still successfully travelling around the world: THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN won the Festival Director Award at the Annual Boston Sci-Fi Festival.

OSKAR & LILLI and MADISON awarded at FIFEM Montréal

The Festival international du film pour enfants de MONTRÉAL thrilled by stories from Austria: OSKAR & LILLI by Arash T. Riahi wins the Prix INIS and the Prize for Best Feature Length Film awarded by the children’s jury. The Special Mention from the young festival jury went to MADISON by Kim Strobl.

FOX IN A HOLE wins three awards at MOP Saarbrücken

Arman T. Riahi triumphs at the 42^ndMax Ophüls Prize Festival, reaping three major awards for his second fiction feature FOX IN A HOLE:

MOP for Best Director
MOP for Best Screenplay and the
Prize of the Youth Jury

We were angry. We were annoyed. We were happy. Cold, expressive images make us empathize, stated the Youth Jury.

42^ndMax-Ophüls-Prize festival launches online edition

From January 17 to 24 the 42^nd Max-Ophüls Prize Festival puts the spotlight on young German language cinema. Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s documentary DAVOS and Arman T. Riahi’s fiction feature FOX IN A HOLE will be vying for the Max Ophüls Prize in the respective competition sections. Luna Jordan as Samira in FOX IN A HOLE is nominated for the Best Acting Talent Award.

Šumadija Audience Award to RUNNING ON EMPTY

The last festival award of the year 2020 garnered by an Austrian film production went to Lisa Weber’s documentary RUNNING ON EMPTY. Her acclaimed second feature film won the Audience Award at the Šumadija International Film Festival in Serbia.

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.

LILLIAN: Best Film at the 38th Uruguay IFF

“Lillian’s journey is a silent road movie that captivates by its striking beauty and reminds us of the migratory nature of the human being”, stated the jury that selected Andreas Horvath’s LILLIAN as the Best Film of the 38^th Festival Cinematográfico Internacional del Uruguay.

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.

SPACE DOGS wins at the IsReal and the Zagreb Subversive Festival

The IsReal – Festival di Cinema del Reale at the Italian town of Nuoro honors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s feature debut with its First Prize, highlighting the “the courage, originality and intelligence interwoven in the work of the directors”. On top of that, SPACE DOGS took the Wild Dreamer Award for the best documentary at the Zagreb Subversive Festival.

Special Distinction to THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN

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

OSKAR & LILLI: Best Feature Film at the Olympia Film Festival

The Greek IFF for Children and Young People awards Arash T. Riahi's moving feature about two young refugees in Vienna searching to reconnect with their mother with its main prize. This is the tenth international distinction for Arash T. Riahi’s feature since its world premiere at the MOP Festival Saarbrücken earlier this year.

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.