"The Viennale always offers the most beautiful narrative of a film year," German filmmaker Christian Petzold remarked when he was introduced as the new Viennale president last May. And having run from 16 to 28 October, the festival’s 63rd edition showcased just that: films from all over the world and a selection of the best of the best from various festivals. The final screening and awards gala took place, as always, in Gartenbaukino.

This year’s festival delighted not only for its tightly curated yet diverse selection of films, but also for the rather large flock of international stars paying Vienna a visit, including Juliette Binoche, John C Reilly, and Willem Dafoe (who, alone, had three movies screening in the festival, including the Vienna-shot work The Souffleur [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Gastón Solnicki
fiche film]). The trophies, however, ended up in different hands. The main prize - the Vienna Film Award for Best Austrian Film - went to the Austrian-Slovakian feature film Perla [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Alexandra Makarová
fiche film] by Alexandra Makarová, focusing on a Slovakian refugee who fled to Vienna at the height of the Cold War and who’s now returning for a visit with her daughter. The jury highlighted how “it’s rare for an artist to be the focus of a feature film, and even rarer for relationships between mothers and children to be portrayed in a realistic, organic, humorous and touching way”.

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The Special Jury Prize went to the Austrian-Swiss production Girls & Gods [+lire aussi :
interview : Arash T. Riahi et Verena S…
fiche film] by Arash T Riahi and Verena Soltiz, a documentary about how women around the world are supposed to worship world religions when the latter discriminate against them, hold them at bay or ignore them. The jury applauded how the movie “tackles the complex subject of the relationship between feminism and religion” and “invites everyone to participate rather than preaching to the converted.”

Unlike last year, when only one winner was singled out, the tradition of having two films receive the Erste Bank MehrWERT Award was reestablished. One prize went to White Snail [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Elsa Kremser et Levin Peter
fiche film] by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, and the other one to Viktoria Schmid’s short film, Rojo Žalia Blau. The former tells the story of two outsiders who bring comfort to one another - one suicidal and the other working in a morgue - which previously triumphed in Locarno. The jury applauded the movie’s “sensitively crafted encounters, brilliantly embodied by the two actors” and described the film itself as “in tune with the times – refreshing and honest.” The latter is an experimental work by the filmmaker, dissecting footage from Spain, Lithuania and Austria based on three-colour-separation.

The Der Standard Reader Jury named Kent Jones’ US title Late Fame its winner, with an honourable mention given to Murat Fıratoğlu’s Turkish film One Of Those Days When Hemme Dies [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film], which bagged a prize in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up last year. And, last but not least, the FIPRESCI Award went to the US-Ghanaian co-production BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions by Kahlil Joseph.

The Viennale itself also had something to celebrate, having seen significant growth in moviegoer numbers compared to previous years. During the festival’s 13-day run, 78,600 tickets were sold for film screenings, corresponding to an occupancy rate of 78.3 per cent and 2,800 additional tickets on last year. “This year’s edition was simply overwhelming,” festival director Eva Sangiorgi concluded. She stressed its “lively energy” and “continuous dialogue between the films in the programme, the audience and the guests’”.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Vienna Film Award for Best Austrian Film
Perla [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Alexandra Makarová
fiche film] – Alexandra Makarová (Austria/Slovakia)

Special Jury Award
Girls & Gods [+lire aussi :
interview : Arash T. Riahi et Verena S…
fiche film] – Arash T Riahi and Verena Soltiz (Austria/Switzerland)

Erste Bank MehrWERT Award
White Snail [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Elsa Kremser et Levin Peter
fiche film] – Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Austria/Germany)
Rojo Žalia Blau – Viktoria Schmid (Austria) (short film)

Der Standard Reader Jury Viennale Award
Late Fame – Kent Jones (USA) 

FIPRESCI Award
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions – Kahlil Joseph (USA/Ghana)