Eva Sangiorgi
The Viennale is Austria’s most important international film event, as well as one of the oldest and best-known festivals in the German-speaking world. Every October, the Viennale takes place in beautiful cinemas in Vienna’s historic center, providing the festival with an international orientation and a distinctive urban flair. A high percentage of the 92,000 visitorsto the festival from Austria and abroad is made up of a decidedly young audience.
In its program, the Viennale shows a carefully picked selection of new films from all over the globe as well as from Austria, some of them international premieres. The choice of about 300 films offers a cross-section of bold film-making which stands apart from the aesthetics of mainstream conventionality and is politically relevant.In the program you will find great titles premiered around the world, from Cannes to Buenos Aires, in a great variety of forms and lengths, as well as tones and genres.
The Viennale receives regular international acclaim for the large-scale retrospective on relevant aspects of film history it organises every year in collaboration with the Austrian Filmmuseum, its numerous Special Programs, as well as for its In Focus programs and homages dedicated to important personalities and institutions in film-making. The conclusion of the festival sees the awarding of the FIPRESCI Prize of the International Film Critics’ Association, the Vienna Film Prize of the City of Vienna, the Erste Bank MoreVALUE Filmaward and the DER STANDARD-Viennale-Audience-Award.
Gala screenings, special events and parties are as much part of the festival as interviews, audience discussions and opportunities to meet the many international guests of the festival. In recent years, the Viennale has established a secure place for itself on the international festival scene: It has become a festival which offers a program of high quality in a relaxed urban atmosphere in autumn, when Vienna is at its most attractive. It presents an exciting array of newest trends contrasted with historical reference points. It is a festival of information, surprises, discoveries and above all, of films.
In eva’s words:
The festival’s uniqueness and originality is distinguished among international festivals for its singular and definite film selections. Each new title brings another new delight. The retrospectives and themed sections make the Viennale an eagerly anticipated event for the careful and congruent film choices in its programmes, which also create links to contemporary works. This has earned it a reputation for showcasing the very best of the year’s crop of films, combining works by established filmmakers with fresh proposals from across the globe – a masterful blend that explains the Viennale’s success and offers surprises for international programmers. The festival also creates an atmosphere conducive for film industry professionals and filmmakers to come together, making it a special event to mark the end of the year. It is also enjoyable for the public who fill the theatres.
