Never before has Austrian filmmaking stood out with such diversity and excellence in all the key locations of the global market.
The Berlin Film Festival alone saw five world premieres, four of them in the Competition sections. Ruth Beckermann's MUTZENBACHER won Best Film in the Encounters Competition and Kurdwin Ayub's SONNE was awarded the Best First Feature prize of the festival. The biggest successful story of 2022 was launched with Marie Kreutzer's CORSAGE in Cannes, heralding the year of Vicky Krieps, who won acting prizes in Cannes, Sarajevo and Chicago and was later honoured as Best European Actress. World premieres in Locarno (MATTER OUT OF PLACE, SERVIAM – I WILL SERVE), Venice (VERA, EISMAYER) and San Sebastián (SPARTA) continued a process which consistently drew attention to new works from Austria at each of the major festivals and topped the presence with prestigious awards. Young Austrian cinema was also a constant presence in 2022, starting with successes for debuts in Saarbrücken (three awards for MONEYBOYS) and Berlin, followed by two debuts at the Tribeca Festival with BREAKING THE ICE and FAMILY DINNER, RUBIKON in Karlovy Vary and finally EISMAYER in Venice's Settimana della Critica, where David Wagner's first work as a director won the Grand Prix of the Jury. SONNE made it among the five EFA nominees in the European Discovery category.
The festival of Les Arcs formed a perfectly timed climax of the year with a focus on Austria as a film country, which not only ended with the main prize (VERA) and the audience award (EISMAYER); targeted industry meetings also shed light on works (some of which have already won awards as projects), which we look forward to with curiosity and excitement for 2023 and 2024.
Facts you should know about the record year 2022
1. 47 films represented by AUSTRIAN FILMS were shown on the screens of international film festivals worldwide.
They appeared in response to more than 500 invitations and won almost 70 awards. For October and November alone, our festival statistics recorded more than 200 international festival participations of Austrian films.
2. 27 Austrian films and co-productions celebrated their international premiere or world premiere, fourteen of them – more than half, representing an unprecedented result – at a key festival particularly relevant for worldwide exploitation.
- A LITTLE LOVE PACKAGE by Gastón Solnicki (Berlinale | Encounters)
- FOR THE MANY – THE VIENNA CHAMBER OF LABOUR by Constantin Wulff (Berlinale | Forum)
- MUTZENBACHER by Ruth Beckermann (Berlinale | Encounters)
- RIMINI by Ulrich Seidl (Berlinale | Wettbewerb)
- SONNE by Kurdwin Ayub (Berlinale | Encounters)
- CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer (Cannes | Un Certain Regard)
- MY FATHER, THE PRINCE by Lila Schwarzenberg & Lukas Sturm (Karlovy Vary | Special Screenings)
- RUBIKON by Leni Lauritsch (Karlovy Vary | Special Screening)
- ZOO LOCK DOWN by Andreas Horvath (Karlovy Vary | Proxima Competition)
- MATTER OUT OF PLACE by Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Locarno | Wettbewerb)
- SERVIAM – I WILL SERVE by Ruth Mader (Locarno | Wettbewerb)
- EISMAYER by David Wagner (Venedig | Settimana della Critica)
- VERA by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel (Venedig | Orizzonti)
- SPARTA by Ulrich Seidl (San Sebastián | Wettbewerb)
3.The high-profile festival presence in BERLIN, CANNES, LOCARNO and VENICE was crowned with top awards in the respective premiere category:
- MUTZENBACHER: Best Film | Encounters
- SONNE: Best First Feature | Berlinale
- CORSAGE: Beste Performance – Vicky Krieps | Un Certain Regard
- MATTER OUT OF PLACE: Pardo Verde
- SERVIAM – I WILL SERVE: Junior Jury Award
- EISMAYER: Grand Prix | Venice Settimana della Critica
- VERA: Best Film + Best Actress – Vera Gemma | Orizzonti
4. European Film Awards: Marie Kreutzer's CORSAGE entered the race with three nominations in the main categories of European Film, European Director and European Actress. Vicky Krieps won the award for Best European Actress.
Kurdwin Ayub's SONNE, in the European Discovery category, and the short film WILL MY PARENTS COME TO SEE ME by Mo Harawe, were also nominated.
CORSAGE on Oscar shortlist: After 2021 (Great Freedom), 2022 will see another Austrian film making a major step towards an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film:
5. Filmmakers whose first feature films we discovered in 2022
- Kurdwin Ayub with SONNE
- Clara Stern with BREAKING THE ICE
- Peter Hengl with FAMILY DINNER
- Leni Lauritsch with RUBIKON
- David Wagner with EISMAYER
6. Wish fulfilled in 2022
After the very unequal gender ratio for directors of films released in 2021, 2022 represents a clear step towards greater balance: of the 27 films that celebrated their international premieres in 2022, 15 were by male directors, 10 by female directors and 2 by mixed teams. A proportion that is also reflected in premieres at key festivals, where works by women and mixed teams comprised over 40% of the total.
7. Press comments we would like to remind you of
A standout
Variety über CORSAGE
A minimalist masterpiece
The Playlist über EISMAYER
An emotional glimpse into the reality of exploitative, neo-liberal work standards
Cineuropa über FOR THE MANY – THE VIENNA CHAMBER OF LABOUR
mesmerizing and strangely beautiful
Variety über MATTER OUT OF PLACE
An extraordinarily complex and masterfully constructed documentary
International Cinephile Society über MUTZENBACHER
a highly atmospheric and superbly crafted work
The Film Verdict über SERVIAM – ICH WILL DIENEN
Ayub’s virbrant feature fizzes with defiance and truth
Screen über SONNE
A shivering precise slow burn
Variety über RIMINI
Thoughtful.
NYT über RUBIKON
A film about identity, about guilt and, most obviously, about pain. A very good film.
El Mundo über SPARTA
Vera is an absolute triumph.
International Cinephile Society über VERA
Films to be expected in 2023
STAMS by Bernhard Braunstein – World Premiere Berlinale Panorama
LE FORMICHE DI MIDA by Edgar Honetschläger – World Premiere Rotterdam Big Screen Competition
As well as new films by Jessica Hausner, Sudabeh Mortezai, DanielHoesl, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Daniel Hoesl, Elisabeth Scharang and many more.
We would like to thank the filmmakers, producers and all our partners at home and abroad as we head towards the film year 2023 filled with anticipation and the energy of the extraordinary year now coming to a close.
