It’s such a pleasure to share an amazing line-up for the 74th Berlinale! No less than 5 films to celebrate their world premiere:

• Competition: THE DEVIL’S BATH by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala
• Encounters: FAVORITEN by Ruth Beckermann
• Panorama: ANDREA GETS A DIVORCE by Josef Hader
• Forum: HENRY FONDA FOR PRESIDENT by Alexander Horwath
• Forum: SLEEPING WITH A TIGER by Anja Salomonowitz

Agnes is a young woman. Extremely sensitive and quiet, she feels at one with nature. Not the best prerequisites for someone from modest circumstances in the 18th century who marries into a peasant family which relies primarily on a young workforce. Agnes is one of countless women who found an escape from her sense of alienation in a world defined by harshness, austerity and fear of God. Inspired by historical records of interrogations, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala employ the power of beauty and cruelty in THE DEVIL’S BATH to tell a story of confinement and liberation.

Wonderful outcome for Austrian filmmaking at the awards ceremonies of the 74th Berlinale:

• Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to Martin Gschlacht, DoP of THE DEVIL’S BATH by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala + Giuseppe Becce Prize for Best Dramaturgy

• Peace Award to FAVORITEN by Ruth Beckermann

• Teddy Award to German production Teaches of Peaches by Austrian co-director Philipp Fussenegger

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s Berlinale Golden Bear contender, starring Anja Plaschg, is the Austrian entry to the 2024 Oscar race for Best International Feature Film. Inspired by historical records of interrogations, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala employ the power of beauty and cruelty in THE DEVIL’S BATH to tell a story of confinement and liberation.

• MOON by Kurdwin Ayub (WP Locarno),
• THE DEVIL’S BATH by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala (WP Berlinale) and
• THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE (WP Cannes)

are the three Austrian films among the 45 films of the EFA Feature Film Selection 2024. MOON is also nominated for European University Film Award.
EFA Nominations will be announced on November 5.
The award ceremony takes place in Lucerne on December 7.

Excellent news on the Austrian entry for Best International Feature Film: THE DEVIL'S BATH by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala sweeps three major awards at the Sitges Festival Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya Oct. 3 to 13), the world’s most prestigious showcase of fantasy and horror movies:

• Best Feature Film
• José Luis Guarner Critics' Award
• Carnet Jove Jury Award

Lucerne in Switzerland will be hosting the 37th European Film Awards ceremony on December 7, 2024: Austrian costume designer Tanja Hausner will receive the European Excellence Award for her outstanding work in THE DEVIL’S BATH by Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala. And we keep our fingers crossed for Kurdwin Ayub’s MOON, nominated for European University Award.

THE DEVIL'S BATH depicts 18th century life in the countryside: a cold, harsh existence marked by hardship which is reflected in the few colours and materials of people’s garments. Tanja Hausner's costume art begins in this simplicity, finding the essence of her figures in the finest nuances and a wide range of fabrics, interweaving past and present to create a subtle dialogue between the forbidding nature and the painterly intensity of the images. A conversation with Tanja Hausner, who was awarded the European Excellence Award 2024 in European Costume Design for this work.