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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Avi Mograbi
fiche film] from 2021, followed by a discussion with Mograbi and filmmaker Ruth Beckermann. On a more recent note, Kamal Aljafari's With Hasan in Gaza [+lire aussi :
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interview : Kamal Aljafari
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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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Christian Petzold
fiche film]. 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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Johanna Moder
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interview : Elsa Kremser et Levin Peter
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interview : Gastón Solnicki
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mascha Schilinski
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fiche film], 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 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]. Another debut, on the male side, is Harris Dickinson’s much-lauded Urchin [+lire aussi :
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interview : Harris Dickinson
fiche film]. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value [+lire aussi :
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interview : Joachim Trier
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interview : Jim Jarmusch
fiche film]. Radu Jude even has two films to offer: Kontinental ‘25 [+lire aussi :
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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.