Editor

The 56th Viennale comes to an extremely successful close today with the gala screening of the film EL ÁNGEL by Luis Ortega. The number of visitors increased to 93,200 compared to 91,700 in 2017.

“I’m overwhelmed by the energy and warmth of this Viennale edition, which is very special to me because it’s my debut as director of the festival”, says Eva Sangiorgi. “This special atmosphere that all our guests have talked about creates lasting ties with the city and the festival. And it’s contagious.” For the first time, this year Eva Sangiorgi was in charge of the Viennale, which featured an accentuated program as well as a series of beautiful innovations. So, for example, cinema fans, filmmakers and guests from the industry and the press were able to chat in a relaxed atmosphere at the “Aperitivi” events in the festival center and students were able to purchase discounted daytime tickets. For the first time, the Austrian Film Museum not only presented films of the Retrospective, but also features from the regular festival program and was very well utilized. Also excellently received was a special screening for pupils and apprentices that filled Vienna’s Gartenbaukino to the last seat. Many of the 315 screenings were either sold out or well attended; the premieres at Gartenbaukino attracted a particularly large number of film fans to the cinema on Vienna’s Parkring this year. The program dedicated to Roberto Minervini turned out to be a great success and the director personally presented his films with great passion. Among the highlights of this year’s Viennale was the program at the festival center in the Kunsthalle Wien in the Museumsquartier, which proved to be extremely varied and exciting with its mix of relaxed aperitivi, interesting film talks and book presentations, parties and DJ lines as well as exquisite concerts. The retrospective The B-Film – Hollywood’s Low-Budget Cinema 1935–1959, organized in collaboration with the Austrian Film Museum, attracted a great deal of (international) attention.

Running until December 5, it’s estimated to receive a total of 4,500 visitors.

VIENNALE 2018 PRIZE WINNERS

VIENNA FILM PRIZE Jury: Bettina Kogler, Mira Lu Kovacs, Corinna Milborn, Doris Uhlich, Renate Wurm The Vienna Film Prize, donated by the City of Vienna and awarded at the Viennale, goes to a current Austrian feature film that has been screened during the past year.

The prize consists of a sum of money, donated by the city’s cultural department, and generous material assets, sponsored by BLAUTÖNE and viennaFX. There are two awards: one for the best Austrian film and the Special Jury Prize. Owing to the generosity and commitment of all involved, the Vienna Film Prize continues to represent encouragement and recognition of the work of Austrian filmmakers. Best Austrian Film: JOY, Sudabeh Mortezai, Austria 2018 Excerpt from the jury’s decision: In a direct and unembellished way, the Viennese director Sudabeh Mortezai tells the story of Joy, a Nigerian who fights for survival in Vienna as a prostitute, caught in the system of trafcking in women and sexual exploitation. The director exposes the mechanisms and brutality of this system, using amateur actresses whose great performances create an authenticity and intensity that gets under the skin. The jury was particularly impressed by how Sudabeh Mortezai turned this reality into a film. (...) The almost unbelievable story, the impressive acting, the improvised dialogs and, finally, the camera work, which involves the viewer directly, convinced the jury unanimously. The Vienna Film Prize thus goes to JOY.

Special Jury Prize: MURER – ANATOMIE EINES PROZESSES, Christian Frosch, Austria/Luxembourg 2017 Excerpt from the jury’s decision:

The Special Jury Prize goes to MURER – ANATOMIE EINES PROZESSES (“Murer – Anatomy of a Trial”) by Christian Frosch. This feature film chronicles the court case against the Austrian NSDAP functionary Franz Murer, also known as the “Butcher of Vilnius” due to the extermination of almost 80,000 Jews. The trial was held in Graz, Austria, in the 1960s and ended with an acquittal. In an extremely impressive way, MURER – ANATOMIE EINES PROZESSES portrays the unresolved issue of Austrian National Socialism of the post-war period, which – it can’t be put any other way – continues to this day. The jury therefore regards the film as an important contemporary document that has an enlightening efect. The court film juxtaposes the impertinence, cold-bloodedness and ignorance of the perpetrators to the pain and renewed humiliation of the victims in an extremely precise and touching way.

VIENNALE STANDARD READERS’ JURY PRIZE Jury: Katharina Ganser, Maria Macic, Patrick Mittler, Marietta Trendl, Hans-Peter Tscheru

The Standard Readers’ Jury Prize goes to a film that does not yet have an Austrian distributor and is especially recommended for screening in Austrian cinemas. Should the award-winning film find a distributor, Der Standard supports its film run with free advertising space in its newspaper.

The STANDARD READERS’ JURY PRIZE goes to: WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE?, Roberto Minervini, Italy/USA/France 2018

Excerpt from the jury’s decision: We have chosen a film that covers the screen with stunning black-and-white visual aesthetics and is characterized by the precision of photographic shots. With these aesthetics, the director creates a cross-generational documentary about justice, dignity and the fight against racism that leaves a lasting impression. His reserved and respectful way of working produces an intimate authenticity and liveliness that is both moving and fascinating. The film reveals, without lecturing. It is an important and valuable contribution to the public discourse about the structural discrimination of Afro-Americans in the USA.

FIPRESCI PRIZE (PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS) Jury: Andrey Arnold (Die Presse), Heidi Strobel (Film-Dienst), Yeşim Tabak (Arka Pencere) The FIPRESCI PRIZE is awarded to the first or second film of a young director.

The FIPRESCI Prize goes to: NE TRAVAILLE PAS (1968–2018), César Vassyié, France 2018 Excerpt from the jury’s decision: Sensation, sexuality, confusion. Performance, insistence, resistance ... Escalation and distraction. Detachment... or commitment? These are only some of the notions throbbing throughout our winning film. They let us reflect on the creative potential of 1968 and its echoes today. This film is a hypnotic collage, a vibrant composition, a powerful drum roll that leads us into a moment of silence ...

The FIPRESCI jury decided to award the FIPRESCI Prize to NE TRAVAILLE PAS by César Vayssié.

ERSTE BANK’S ExtraVALUE FILM AWARD Jury: Silvia Bohrn, Boris Manner, Franz Schwartz Erste Bank’s ExtraVALUE Film Award was awarded for the eighth time at the Viennale 2018. An independent jury selected an award winner from films by Austrian directors shown at the festival. The prize includes a two-month residency in New York and a presentation of the winner’s work in that city.

Erste Bank’s ExtraVALUE Film Award is realized in collaboration with the Viennale, the Deutsches Haus at NYU, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and Anthology Film Archives.

This year’s ExtraVALUE Film Award goes ex aequo to: CHAOS, Sara Fattahi, Austria/Syria/Lebanon/Qatar 2018 and STYX, Wolfgang Fischer, Germany/Austria 2018

Excerpt from the jury’s decision (CHAOS): Three women, stranded in diferent places, try to put into words the deadly losses and traumas they sufered during the war in Syria. In atmospheric and, in part, dream-like images, the film follows the rhythm of the protagonists’ futile attempts to put into words the unspeakable, the death of a loved one. CHAOS is a meditation on silence and quiescence. A question about the place of female speech. A film that addresses the possibility and impossibility of memory. A film that reflects its own limits of representation and transcends them by assuming the notion of a poem. Excerpt from the jury’s decision (STYX): The journey of the German doctor Rike, who embarks on a solo sailing trip from Gibraltar, becomes an existential challenge to her. A cinematic event reminiscent of an experimental arrangement to explore the human capacity for empathy, and yet painfully outdone by reality. Caught between maritime law and ofcial orders, a woman makes a final decision, risking her existence. 4