The 61st Viennale Film Festival concluded on October 31st with a record attendance of 75,300 people. This corresponds to an occupancy rate of 76%, making it the most successful Viennale in recent years.
Highlights
The festival closed with the gala screening of Quentin Dupieux’s film “YANNICK.” Other highlights of the festival included the opening gala in the presence of the producer and the leading actress of the highly political opening film “MAGYARÁZAT MINDENRE” (EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING), Júlia Berkes and Lilla Kizlinger; the screening of the Raúl Ruiz film “LE TEMPS RETROUVE,” in which Catherine Deneuve played the leading role; and a special gala on the penultimate evening of the festival to celebrate the 100th birthday of the long-time and extremely popular Viennale President Eric Pleskow.
Big hits of the festival year included “POOR THINGS” by Yorgos Lanthimos, “ANATOMIE D’UNE CHUTE” by Justine Triet, “PRISCILLA” by Sofia Coppola, and “FERRARI” by Michael Mann.
Austrian films were also prominently represented in the festival’s main program, with major premieres of films such as “STILLSTAND” by Nikolaus Geyrhalter, “CLUB ZERO” by Jessica Hausner, “EUROPA” by Sudabeh Mortezai, “RICKERL” by Adrian Goiginger, and “ADENTRO MÍO ESTOY BAILANDO” by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann.
The Viennale also welcomed many great guests who presented their films this year, including Christian Petzold, Bertrand Bonello, Catherine Breillat, Jennifer Reeder, Lisandro Alonso, Angela Schanelec, Radu Jude, Lav Diaz, Pedro Costa, and Claire Simon.
Viennale Award Winners 2023
At the Viennale’s closing gala, the Vienna Film Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the Standard Audience Jury Award, and the Erste Bank Film Award – Vermehrt Schönes! were traditionally awarded in the Gartenbaukino. Several juries spent 13 days screening the festival’s program to select the winners.
All juries and winning films can be found here.
Retrospective until January 10, 2024: Raúl Ruiz
Despite his varied output and multiple successes, Raúl Ruiz’s extensive body of work is all too little known. For years, the filmmaker, born in Chile in 1941, was considered a rather elitist figure on the fringes of the European and Latin American film industries. Ruiz’s enormous importance to the world of cinema, however, and the growing interest in his work that has finally emerged after all, can be attributed primarily to his legacy as a cinematic multi-talent. Audiences, creatives, and film scholars return to his works again and again because they ceaselessly raise the question of what cinema can be – especially at a time when it is increasingly seen as an art form threatened by television, streaming services, and other new media.
Tickets & info here!
A program by the Viennale and the Austrian Film Museum.
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
To review the festival and reminisce, we recommend visiting the website for numerous videos of audience talks and discussions, among others, with Catherine Breillat, Jennifer Reeder, or Angela Schanelec, as well as podcasts with Lisandro Alonso (EUREKA) or Thomas Schubert (ROTER HIMMEL)! Also the exclusive interview with the festival’s director.