08/06/2005

Opening tonight in Paris, at the Cinéma des Cinéastes, of the 2nd Austrian Film week, an excellent occasion for French film buffs to discover, until the 14th of June, films as yet unseen in France. The programme for this event, organised by the association Magic Lantern and supported by filmmaker Michael Haneke and the actress Sylvie Testud, this year includes eight feature films of fiction, two documentaries, four shorts and an experimental programme. A diverse menu which aims to open a window on young, politically and socially inspired filmmaking. Created in 2004, the Magic Lantern association in fact began its activities due to the limited circulation of European films in Europe and out of a necessity to bring a better knowledge of as yet unknown films to the general public.

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This topical panorama of the 7th art in Austria will start tonight with Der Gläserne Blick (Images volées) by Markus Heltschl, an opening film screened in the presence of the filmmaker, principal actress Sylvie Testud and the producers Christian Berger and Marika Green. The features that follow: Welcome Home by Andreas Gruber (2005), Silentium by Wolfgang Murnberger (2004), Hurensohn (Fils de pute - 2003) by Michael Sturminger, Mein Russland (Ma Russie - 2002) by Barbara Gräftner, Kaltfront (Front Froid - 2003) by Valentin Hitz et Am Anderen Ende Der Brücke (A l’autre bout du pont - 2002) by Hu Mei. The closing film of this Austrian week, on the 14th of June, in the presence of the director, is Crash Test Dummies by Jörg Kalt, a feature film shown at the Panorama of the last Berlin festival.

As for documentaries, the filmmaker Hubert Sauper whose latest work Le Cauchemar de Darwin is still drawing the crowds in France, with 283 000 spectators in 13 weeks, will present his short-long film dedicated to the Rwandan genocide, Kisangani Diary – Loin du Rwanda (1998). Finally, beyond the shorts, an experimental film section includes a retrospective of the work of Siegfried A. Fruhauf.
Among the notables present are the Austrian Film Commission (AFC), du Fachverband der Audiovisions- und Filmindustrie (FAF), the National Film Centre (CNC) and the French professional organisation ARP (Writers-Directors-Producers).

(Translated from French)