07/03/2025 - Among the supported projects for the first funding round of 2025 are new works by Marie Kreutzer, Arman T Riahi and Amos Gitai

The Filmfonds Wien has announced its first round of funding for 2025, allocating €4.2 million to new film and television productions. A total of nine feature films and 14 projects in development received funding commitments amounting to €3.1 million. The demand for financial support remains high, with 58 projects submitted, requesting a combined €10.93 million. In the television sector, 31 projects applied for €2.14 million, with 13 receiving financial backing of over €1 million.

Among the funded projects are new films by acclaimed directors Marie Kreutzer (Corsage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
film profile]), Arman T Riahi (Fox in a Hole [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arman T Riahi
film profile]), and Amos Gitai (Rabin, The Last Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster delves into themes of trust, deception, love, and violence, following two women who shape their lives around men whose dark sides they prefer to ignore. Riahi’s riot/girl tells the story of a 17-year-old Iranian teenager sent to Austria to recover from a nose surgery, only for her presence to disrupt family dynamics and reveal deeper secrets. Gitai’s Efratia is a historical drama tracing a woman's life from birth to old age, set against the backdrop of a century of upheaval in Palestine/Israel and her connection to Vienna.

Other notable feature films receiving support include Pirker by Marcus H. Rosenmüller (The Keeper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marcus H Rosenmüller
film profile]), a crime thriller about a self-sabotaging detective who must prove himself, catch a pseudo-spiritual serial killer, and win back his lost love. Wolfgang Fischer’s Südwest follows two scientists fleeing into the desert, only to face nature in a relentless struggle for scarce water resources, turning their journey into a fight for survival.

The Filmfonds Wien also supported four documentary feature films. Juri Rechinsky’s bTBI examines the psychological trauma endured by Ukrainian soldiers and their journey from war to peace. Constantin Wulff’s Wir sind die Revolte explores the collaboration between playwright Elfriede Jelinek and director Milo Rau, questioning the power of political art. Evelyne Faye’s Mixed Feelings investigates Black identity in Austria across generations, from post-WWII Afro-Austrian children to the struggles faced by today’s younger PoC generation. Claudia Martini’s Die Schatten der Mütter is a personal exploration of family trauma and its impact on future generations.

Several high-profile television productions also secured funding. The revival of Kommissar Rex brings back the beloved detective dog series. The second season of Die Fälle der Gerti B. follows detective Gerti Bruckner, played by Susi Stach, as she navigates professional and personal challenges, including a mysterious death, unsettling memories, and a suspected stalker, while her younger self in the 1980s faces sexism in the police force. A new instalment of Spuren des Bösen: Morpheus, directed by Andreas Prochaska and starring Heino Ferch, follows a psychiatrist and interrogation specialist as he uncovers a crime that still reverberates in the present.

In the documentary television sector, projects such as zerbrochen sind die harmonischen Krüge – a tribute to poet Ernst Jandl on his 100th birthday – and Die resiliente Stadt, which examines urban resilience in the face of climate change, received funding as well.