14/10/2025 - As well as offering the cream of the crop from the past festival season, the Austrian gathering is also presenting German filmmaker Christian Petzold as its new president

The Viennale is no stranger to conflict – and that includes showcasing it in this year’s film selection. Taking place from 16-28 October, the 63rd edition is offering a glimpse at the struggles the world is currently facing. In light of the situation in Israel and Gaza, festival director Eva Sangiorgi expressed her team’s “solidarity with the victims and their families”, while also speaking out against the war. Indeed, the ongoing conflict has ingrained itself quite prominently in the programme. There is Avi Mograbi's The First 54 Years. An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation [+see also:
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interview: Avi Mograbi
film profile] from 2021, followed by a discussion with Mograbi and filmmaker Ruth Beckermann. On a more recent note, Kamal Aljafari's With Hasan in Gaza [+see also:
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interview: Kamal Aljafari
film profile] and the Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
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interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
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A new face in the mix of the Viennale is German director Christian Petzold. Six years after the death of Austrian-US producer Eric Pleskow, he is taking on the mantle of serving as president of the festival. And that’s reason enough to open proceedings with his newest outing, Mirrors No. 3 [+see also:
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interview: Christian Petzold
film profile]. The closing slot is reserved for a recurring guest, South Korea’s Hong Sang-soo and his film What Does Nature Say to You.

As for Austrian films, there is much to look forward to. Johanna Moder's Berlinale flick Mother's Baby [+see also:
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interview: Johanna Moder
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interview: Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
film profile] by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter. Nikolas Geyrhalter will present Melt, about snow, Othmar Schmiderer Elements of(f) Balance, and Markus Heltschl Lois Weinberger – Ruderal Society. Gastón Solnicki will show off the Argentinian-Austrian co-production The Souffleur [+see also:
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interview: Gastón Solnicki
film profile] with Willem Dafoe – shot in Vienna’s Intercontinental Hotel, also the headquarters of the Viennale. Additionally, there will be the inauguration of a new programme, called “Young Audience Screening”. The animation Arco by Ugo Bienvenu is specifically aimed at the youngest audience, with a corresponding reduced ticket price.

Women, first-timers as well as established directors, are also having a moment this year. Mascha Schilinski will present her Cannes-screened Sound of Falling [+see also:
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interview: Mascha Schilinski
film profile] and Julia Ducourneau Alpha [+see also:
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film profile], which also trod the Croisette. Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind is playing, as is Lynne Ramsay's Die My Love. In addition, Kristen Stewart is presenting her directorial debut, The Chronology of Water [+see also:
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film profile]. Another debut, on the male side, is Harris Dickinson’s much-lauded Urchin [+see also:
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interview: Harris Dickinson
film profile]. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
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film profile] and Jim Jarmusch’s Golden Lion winner Father Mother Sister Brother [+see also:
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interview: Jim Jarmusch
film profile]. Radu Jude even has two films to offer: Kontinental ‘25 [+see also:
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film profile] and Dracula [+see also:
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interview: Radu Jude
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As usual, in cooperation with partners Filmmuseum and Filmarchiv Austria, the Viennale is offering retrospectives and monographs. One of the latter is dedicated to Italian directorial duo Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti, and their essay films. Another is devoted to the Netherlands’ Digna Sinke, who infuses her movies with social and environmental themes. The third monograph is reserved for Angela Summereder, who breaks down the boundaries between documentary, essay and fiction. The so-called “kinematographies” are dedicated to Hungarian underground and counter-culture filmmaker János Xantus, Mexican multimedia artist Carlos Amorales, and a selection of films shot in Gasparcolor, the predecessor of Technicolor. Lastly, French filmmaker Jean Epstein will be at the centre of an in-depth retrospective.