On April 11, the Austrian Film Week festival will start at the Zhovten Cinema in Kyiv. The program includes 4 films of different genres: from sports drama to mystical horror. Later, screenings will also take place in Lviv, Dnipro, and Chernivtsi.
The festival is organized by the Embassy of Austria in Ukraine in cooperation with the Arthouse Traffic film company and with the support of the general partner AMIC ENERGY.
The event will be opened by the drama film A Whole Life, directed by Hans Steinbichler. This is an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Robert Seethaler, which has been published in 40 languages, including Ukrainian. Another of the writer's works was used as the basis for the film that opened the 2020 Austrian Film Week, the tragicomedy My Friend Sigmund Freud. This film tells the story of a man's life in the turbulent 20th century, full of hard work, great love and terrible historical events. The film stars one of the most famous Austrian actors August Zirner (Dignidad Colony, Irresistible Martha), and Stefan Gorski, who won this year's Bavarian Film Award for his role.
The film Devil's Bath, which critics call one of the best films of this year's Berlin International Film Festival, will also be screened at the festival. This is a mystical folk horror film by the directorial duo Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, which takes place in the 18th century in a village among dense forests. The film uses the genre's typical means to address issues of religion and the place of women in society. The film's cinematographer, Martin Gschlacht (Zero Calories and Little Joe by Jessica Hausner, In Love in the Desert by Margarete von Trotta), won the Silver Bear at Berlinale for his outstanding artistic contribution (cinematography in The Devil's Bath).
The program also includes the drama Veni Vidi Vici, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the main independent film festival in the United States. The work of the directorial duo Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann was produced by Ulrich Seidl, one of the most respected Austrian filmmakers (his films Rimini and Safari were screened at the Austrian Film Weeks in 2023 and 2017). Veni Vidi Vici is the story of a rich family who have no restrictions in their lives - to the point that the head of the family can afford to hunt people for fun.
The festival audience will also learn the story of Austrian sports legend Franz Klammer. Andreas Schmied's film Chasing the Line tells the story of the 1976 Winter Olympics, which made the 22-year-old a ski star. It is an intense sports drama about overcoming the pressure of expectations and the power of love. In 2022, the film was nominated for an Austrian Film Award for Best Costume Design and Editing.
