Austrian filmmaker Goran Rebić has wrapped shooting on his new feature, In the Hidden (Im Verborgenen), a historical drama adapted from the eponymous novel by Ljuba Arnautović. The film chronicles the life of an anti-fascist activist whose personal story unfolds against the broader political upheavals of 20th-century Europe.

Set in Vienna in 1944, the film follows Eva, a secretary at an evangelical church who, together with Pastor Rieger, whom she met in prison, helps hide Walter, a regular attendee of Bible-study meetings who has been identified as Jewish by the Gestapo. As Eva and Walter gradually get to know each other by sharing stories from their pasts, the committed human-rights activist and the shy dancer fall in love. Their growing intimacy leads them to consider breaking the rules established for their safety in order to enjoy a little happiness and forbidden freedom. Meanwhile, the Red Army approaches Vienna, and World War II draws to a close. Their relationship is thrown into further turmoil when Eva finally receives news of the family she has not seen for 22 years.

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Birgit Minichmayr (The Blood Countess, Everytime) stars as Eva, with Itay Tiran (The Dead and the Living, Wild, Wild East) as Walter and Robert Stadlober (Four Minus Three, Diplomacy) as Karl. The cast also includes Gerti Drassl (Welcome Home Baby) as Magda, Zuzana Mauréry (The Teacher) as Concierge and Roland Jaeger (Murer - Anatomy of a Trial) as Pastor Rieger, along with Maresi Riegner (Monte Verità), Anne Bennent (Kafka) and Karl Markovics (Our Girls).

Rebić directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Arnautović, based on her novel, which draws on the autobiographical experiences of her grandmother, Genofeva Arnautović. The filmmaker has built a body of work exploring questions of identity, migration and intercultural dialogue across the former Yugoslavia and Austria. His feature debut, Domovina, was followed by Jugofilm, The Punishment and The Danube, which brought him international recognition. The Diagonale later devoted a comprehensive retrospective to his work. In In the Hidden, he turns to the life of Arnautović’s grandmother, an anti-fascist activist who survived persecution and torture under National Socialism, lost her sons in Stalin’s camps and remained committed to her ideals throughout a turbulent century.

The film was shot in Vienna, Lower Austria and Bratislava over 30 shooting days between September and October 2026. Shooting concluded in Vienna on 8 October, following a final day at the Karl-Marx-Hof, where the story begins in February 1934. Bratislava doubled for Vienna in several sequences set during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, with the production recreating period streets and locations, including a 1930s tram and prison interiors.

Austrian cinematographer Martin Gschlacht (The Devil’s Bath) serves as director of photography, with Branislav Mihálik and Pavlina Berčíková as production designers, and Katarína Štrbová Bieliková as costume designer. Andrea Štrbová is responsible for make-up, Hjalti Bager-Jonathansson for sound recording and Karina Ressler for editing, while Eva Roth is the casting director. Igor Orovac and Diana Kačerjaková serve as production managers.

In the Hidden is an Austrian-Slovakian co-production staged by Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu and Bady Minck for Amour Fou Vienna, in co-production with Zuzana Mistríková and Martin Repka for Bratislava-based PubRes. The film is supported by the Austrian Film Institute and ÖFI+, Filmfonds Wien, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Land Niederösterreich, the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria and Creative Europe – MEDIA. ORF is participating through the Film/Television Agreement. Filmladen Filmverleih is set to release the movie in Austrian cinemas in 2027.