Six festival days, 131 films and videos in 120 screenings (among them 39 world premieres and 15 Austrian premieres), with 100 attending directors: From the March 20 to 25 of, Diagonale Film Festival, now in its 15th edition in the Styrian capital, celebrated Austrian cinema in all its diversity. Here is an overview: The high quality of current Austrian filmmaking was reflected in the choice selection of the 2012 Diagonale. As always, the Festival functioned as a center of exchange between the...

This year Diagonale's  international tribute will be dedicated to the Israeli filmmaker and video artist Avi Mograbi. As a decidedly political filmmaker, the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shapes all of Avi Mograbi’s films. He rejects a simplified view and employs his own blend of documentary, autobiographical and fictional work to achieve his unique approach to the subject. The 2012 Diagonale will present a retrospective of his work up to now, in addition to the multi-channel vide...

A highlight of this year’s festival will be a tribute to filmmaker Ferry Radax in association with Radio Ö1. Radax, who in 2012 celebrates his 80th birthday, is one of the most internationally renowned exponents of the Austrian avant-garde, with films such as Sonne halt! (1958–62)and his portrait of Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard – Drei Tage (1970). His films feature collage and montage techniques that distill the visual narrative down to the bare essentials, thereby purposefully subvert...