Viennale explores the state of the world in 261 films

Austria’s largest film festival will screen 261 films from 71 countries in its 64th edition, with works exploring the “state of the world,” director Eva Sangiorgi said, ORF reports. The Viennale runs from October 22 to November 3, and tickets go on sale October 17.

The festival opens with Johann Lurf’s 21-minute essay film “Forever … Forever,” about the Ottenstein reservoir, screened on 70mm film. It closes with “The Loneliest Man in Town,” Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s portrait of Viennese blues musician Al Cook, also known as Alois Koch.

Among the Austrian premieres are Sandra Wollner’s “Everytime” and Valeska Grisebach’s “Das geträumte Jahr,” both co-productions recognised at Cannes. Sebastian Brameshuber will present his road film “London,” Katharina Rabl her Toronto-premiered “Erinnerungen eines Waldes,” and Andrina Mračnikar her audience-award-winning “Mila/Marija,” about women partisans and a little-explored chapter of armed resistance in the Carinthian-Slovene border region.

Several filmmakers and performers are expected in Vienna. Choreographer Florentina Holzinger will present “Eternity,” Susanne Regina Meures’s film about Holzinger and her company performing stunts in the eternal ice. Isabelle Huppert appears in two festival films, “Histoires parallèles” and Ulrike Ottinger’s “Die Blutgräfin,” which also features Birgit Minichmayr and Lars Eidinger. Eidinger will also perform as a DJ, while songwriter and poet Wolf Biermann will introduce Jens Meurer’s documentary “Biermann.”

International guests include Ira Sachs, presenting “The Man I Love”; Radu Jude, with “Le Journal d’une femme de chambre”; and Volker Schlöndorff, who will attend with lead actor Martina Gedeck for “Heimsuchung – Eine Jahrhundertgeschichte.” Nina Hoss will introduce Mariko Minoguchi’s “Die andere Seite.” The programme also includes Cannes winner “Fjord,” by Cristian Mungiu, and Martin McDonagh’s Venice hit “Wild Horse Nine.”

Retrospectives and screenings

Most of the programme is devoted to contemporary cinema, Sangiorgi said. The 261 films will be shown in 330 screenings, including one traditional surprise film. With repeat screenings included, the festival offers 581 hours of cinema across five cinemas and six screens, with films shown in formats ranging from digital projection to Super 8, 16mm and 35mm.

Retrospectives include a focus on journalist and filmmaker Jocelyne Saab, who worked as a war correspondent in Lebanon in the 1970s. A series curated with Filmarchiv Austria, “Alles bunt und wunderbar?”, revisits five Austrian films from the 1990s, including Mirjam Unger’s rarely screened “Ternitz Tennessee.” The festival’s major retrospective, organised with the Film Museum, is dedicated to director Robert Aldrich.

Tags: Vienna, film festival, cinema