Discoveries from Austria World Cinema

Divorce lawyer Dr. Winifred Lert tries to convince her daughter Susi of the futility of marriage. But Susi has long since married herself. Susi also wants to use trickery to bring her parents back together.

With "FOOD LOVE" (2023), Mayr and Hase present their second short film and the follow-up to their debut film "CAR LOVE" (2022). Here, the themes of food and sexuality are negotiated; more specifically, it's about French "haute cuisine," which is brought into a sexually charged context during the film. The boundaries between the art of cooking, food consumption and sex become blurred in FOOD LOVE; the food that the protagonist creates is consumed in a multiple sense and serves physical gratification in an ambiguous sense. In the order of a French menu, sexual acts are performed with and on the dishes. After the climax, however, a surprise awaits: it is an inconspicuous fast-food burger that is finally eaten by the protagonist.

Recorded at the Vienna State Opera house in 1989, this staging of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Elektra is one of the glories of live opera on film, deserving of eternal availability. The DVD picture has great clarity, despite the darkness of Hans Schavernoch’s set design. Other than the cliché of a huge statue head, toppled on its side, the set manages to be suitably representative of a decaying palace as well as an imposing, theatrical space, dominated by the mammoth body of the statue from which the head apparently dropped, draped with the ropes that seem to have enabled the decapitation. Sooner or later most of the characters cling to and twist around those ropes, an apt stage metaphor for the remorseless repercussions from the murder of Agammenon by his unfaithful wife Klytämnestra and her paramour, Aegisthus. Reinhard Heinrich’s costumes capture a distant era while sustaining a creepily modern look — part Goth, part homeless, part Spa-wear.

Leopold and Franz are coach drivers and best friends. Their relationship gets strained when Franz decides to modernize by buying a taxi cab. Leopold, grumpy keeper of tradition, is not pleased.

A few hours in the life of empress Sisi; a summer night at Gödöllö. A game with operetta and melodrama; a grotesque with much colour, music, dancing, and bloodshed.

Concerning the Mátyás era in Hungarian history, during the reign of Matthias Corvinus (1443–1490), the film focuses on three eras of the king's life: the young Mátyás fights for the throne, the older Mátyás as king, and the fate of the royal crown and the royal heir after his death.

Hans, living in Vienna during the Great Depression, intends to drown himself in the river after losing his livelihood. While there he meets a girl named Anna after pulling her from the river.

Biggi is about to take her high school diploma. To avoid an impending chemistry exam, she fakes an illness. She obtains the necessary certificate from the handsome doctor Dr. Weiringk. She promptly falls in love with her savior and marries him. However, as the young wife of a busy doctor, Biggi soon feels abandoned. Professor Dr. Weiringk, her father-in-law, thinks little of her. She says she's only distracting his son from his homework. That's just one of the reasons for her decision to retake her high school diploma. Biggi secretly goes back to school. The double life as wife and student proves to be exhausting.

Oskar has been working as a guardian angel for over 30 years and is increasingly weary of his task. It's a good thing he's about to retire, or rather, be sent to heaven. But due to a moment of carelessness, two of his clients die, including Mira, who is assigned to him from now on – as an angel in training. Because of his misconduct, Oskar will be denied eternal paradise.

After years in Canada, Thomas, returning home, finds a rather frosty welcome. Bernhard has moved in with his girlfriend Maria and the children, and much else in the village is different. His brother Winnie manages the family farm and has a stable family, his rival Bernhard has a solid job, while 35-year-old professional athlete Thomas faces an uncertain future. As internal tensions grow, so does an external threat: After heavy snowfall, the village is to be evacuated due to the danger of avalanches...

A Dublin student writes a novel about a tavern keeper about the parishioners in his tavern (including the student), who in turn write novels featuring the innkeeper and the student, and other novel composers about other novelists.

The story of the last days of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter (1907-43), who was executed by the Nazi regime because of his refusal to compromise with a perverse system.

Based on the operetta of the same name by Carl Milöcker. The residents of an Austrian town decide to teach their eccentric mayor a lesson. A young fisherman dresses up as the famous bandit Gaspare and goes to see the mayor. The mayor, terrified, flees from "Gaspare" and commits a series of ridiculous acts, becoming the laughing stock of the whole town.

Sascha Bergmann from LKA Graz and his colleague Anni Sulmtaler are investigating a suspicious death in Mursbruck.

The innkeeper of the Linden Inn is struggling with her debts and her rival, the butcher Kilian. A boost comes when the young interior designer Helga furnishes the inn with furniture from a nearby castle. In the process, she falls in love with the estate manager, Fred, who is an avowed misogynist...

Fifty years after graduating from school, Senta von Meissen invites eight former school friends to a class reunion at her castle. The table is set for ten people. One place remains empty: Teddy, the hostess's former school sweetheart, died in an accident on her graduation trip to the Rhine Falls. But was it really an accident? The evening turns into a murderous act of revenge.

In search of the genre-specific nature of student life, the intrepid reporter Marie Behles sets out to find answers. Through her investigative reporting, she gathers insights into life at the Institute of Theater, Film, and Media Studies in Vienna and asks the questions no one else dares to ask. We report on an optimism that is cruelly shattered.

Wonderful prospects for Stefan Herrlich: the father of three is celebrating his promotion to managing director. Just then he learns from his wife Ines that his mother has died. Now Stefan has to take care of his father, the retired Latin teacher and amateur hunter Hubert. The two stubborn men don't get along at all. First they argue about the location of the funeral, then about Hubert's future. When Grandpa is finally forced to move into the Herrlichs' Berlin apartment, the sparks really fly...

After twenty unsuccessful years, pop singer Harry Kuntz has landed a hit: a remake of Lehár's "Your is my whole heart" catapulted him to the top of the charts. While Harry basks in his sudden fame, his brother and manager Tommy's dream of wealth is just around the corner. A car breakdown on a stormy night leads the brothers to a remote house. Harry is once again playing the sexual daredevil and thinks he's having success with his pick-me-up. A fatal error. Suddenly, the two brothers find themselves in a nightmare from which there is no escape.

A Hungarian orphan girl searches for new parents in Austria. In an Austrian circus, she befriends an elephant and a wolfhound.

Narrated by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, "JFK: A President Betrayed" uncovers new evidence that reveals how JFK embarked on secret back channel peace efforts with Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro and was determined to get out of Vietnam despite intense opposition inside his own government.

When Hans Hass seeks a secretary for his Viennese office in the summer of 1947, Lotte Baierl applies for the job. She has just graduated from high school and is a big fan of Hass. Lotte is learning how to handle diving equipment and underwater cameras, as she wants to participate in the next expedition. Hass, who is initially against the participation of a woman, changes his mind. The TV movie tells the story of the two diving pioneers.

Lisa (Nina Hartmann) and Martin (Olivier Lendl) are a perfect match - at least their online dating profiles are. Too bad that both of them used fake profile pictures, so when they meet for the first date, they don't recognize each other.

A terrible accident occurs while 13-year-old Franzi is doing target practice in the quarry . A bullet misses its target and hits his grandfather, old farmer Anton Wolf. While Anton falls into a coma , the true remainCircumstances of the fact unknown for the time being . Instead , the rumor spread in the village that Franzi 's father Franz was the shooter, especially since there were constant arguments between father and son about running the farm . A real drive hunt in the village begins .

While junior boss Beatrice fights for the survival of the textile manufacturer Brunhausen, her mother Karla wants to sell the company. The investor comes in the shape of the attractive Thomas Berger. Beatrice, who has no time for a private life, keeps the supposed holiday guest at a distance. When she finally acknowledges her feelings for him, she has to realize that he is different than expected.

A look at how form, color, smell, consistency, the sounds made during eating, manufacturing technique, history and stories influence food design.

The delightful light operatic farce by Johann Strauss is presented at the Morbisch Lake Festival (Seefestspiele Mörbisch) starring Herbert Lippert, Richard Samek, Heinz Zednik and Dagmar Schellenberger.

Vienna, 1989: Journalist André Müller, known for his radical interviews with celebrities, travels to his hometown to interview his mother for a major weekly newspaper. In a desperate struggle, he tries to finally break the silence and extract from his mother the secrets of her life and his, which are closely linked to 20th-century Austrian-German history.

In the year 1968, the “Bockerer” has decided, after many attempts, to marry his long-time widowed housekeeper, Anna. Gustl, whom he as taken in like a son after the war, will open a butchery in the Czech small town Kostelec and invites the Bockerers to spend their wedding journey with him and his Elena. The “Prague Spring”, of which everywhere is talked so much about, promises a nice honeymoon, and their friend Hatzinger is taken along on the journey as well. Soon after their arrival, the Bockerer has to realize that “Communism with a human face” is still an idle wish.

Michael Larson, a vagabond singer, wants to change his life and start all over again, causing great disaster.

A grumpy old white man enlists the help of an Afghani migrant to bury his dead dog, and as the two dredge through prejudices to find common ground, their day takes an unexpected turn.

A period drama set in the early years of the 20th century. Josef, a former construction worker who delighted in dancing on girders high above the city, who now sweeps up at the circus. Once the big top's owner spots the young roustabout defying gravity on the trapeze, however, he endeavors to pair Josef with his aerialist daughter Alice in a perilous sky-high pas de deux. Offers a romantic view of big top life, with a moth-eaten angel in his feathered, tattered costume.

Documentary glimpses from Alt & Neu (Teuchtler) record store, where love for cinema and music unite vinyl collectors and tourists in the 6th district of Vienna. 30 years after the release of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, the family-owned business remains one of the movie's most visited locations. The Teuchtler family shares how they feel about it — and reflects on the legacy of that one Trilogy scene.

A professor inherits a fashion salon from a former lover. Since he doesn't want his wife to find out about his previous love life, he asks his son-in-law to take over the running of the place. Needless to say, that leads to a lot of misunderstandings.

Kren's second film and the first he cut according to a strictly serial, sequence technique: in various frame sizes, the 48 portraits from the Szondi Test for "experimental diagnosis of human impulses" are shown in pre-specified lengths (between one and eight frames).

Three trans women meet in a country house to plan a robbery. The trick of the heist is that, in order to create a false trail, they disguise themselves as men. While they share everyday life as a well-established team and lovers, they practice speaking in a deep voice, walking manly and behaving in a masculine manner. In this process, they reach their emotional and physical limits and repeatedly fail to imitate male connoted behavior.

Within the span of 48 hours "contemporaries" encounter each other. In the middle is Max, who lost his job years ago because of his affair with the wife of an influential man. The story of an encounter which turns out badly because the people involved can't quite communicate.

“Dirty Care” is an essay film shot from first-person perspective. From martial arts training to everyday life, we follow the protagonist's point of view and a voiceover through various landscapes and tasks. In a public toilet, above the rooftops of Vienna at sunrise, in a trailer park and in a snowy landscape, we are instructed and trained to defend ourselves against a physical attack. “Dirty Care” describes the efforts that non-normative women have to make in order not to be exposed to patriarchal violence or to be capable of standing up to it. The film portrays scenes of empowerment, intimacy, resilience and companionship.

In southern Burgenland, Austria, 18-year-old Renate is found dead in a wooded area. Investigator Elfriede Jandrasits, who is known for her tenacity at the Eisenstadt Criminal Police Office, takes on the case. She is under a lot of time pressure because her husband's retirement party is imminent.

Florian König is in his early 20s and lives with his mother. He assists her whenever he can. In the weekly newspaper "Alt Ausseer Bote" he reports on a foundling that has been handed in at the baby hatch of Bad Aussee hospital, and is subsequently dismissed by editor-in-chief Anton Grimmeisen. But when the editor Caroline Moosbichler hears about it, she demands Florian's immediate reinstatement. He is to stay on the story. In the process, he finds out that the mother acted out of pure desperation, and he gets on the trail of the love between Jutta Lechner and Thomas Gschnitzer. This love is the origin of the child.

While the armed conflicts on the Ukrainian front have become a traumatizing everyday reality, out of necessity new structures of care have developed among Ukrainian society. As a contemporary document, this film looks at unseen moments of care work - continuous attempts to restore respect and security to people who have been violently deprived of them.

Peter Keller is hired as a butler by the wealthy Pirkner couple to teach them good manners, which leads to all sorts of complications.

The truth about the ailing state of the Haut-Rhin nuclear power plant in the tri-border region is to come to light - this is the goal of the assassin David Kollwein. He brings the power plant in his power and extorted policy and operating company. The German prosecutor Marie Hoffmann has only three hours to procure explosive information together with the French policeman Jean-Luc Laboetie and to prevent the meltdown in the reactor ...

The latest Gasperlmaier case has almost ended in Ausseerland. On the day of the Pfeiffer's Day, of all days, a young musician is found dead on the Weißenbachalm pasture, and Gasperlmaier must once again embark on a criminal hunt. This time, too, the likeable police officer, Franz Gasperlmaier, can't rest. Not only is his beloved wife, Christine, traveling the world, leaving him alone with the household, but a new murder case is keeping Gasperlmaier on his toes. At the annual Pfeiffer's Day, where he is about to enjoy a fine schnapps with station commander Friedrich Kahlß, a scream shatters the peaceful atmosphere.

Lost Bet is a diploma thesis of the HTL Rennweg, a short film which has its place in the genre mystery thriller with horror influences.

Consul Werle holds a reception in honour of the homecoming of his son Gregers. At the reception, Gregers meets his childhood friend, Hjalmar Ekdal, who is married to Gina, a former maid of the Werle family. Hjalmar is unaware that Werle had an affair with Gina and that their 14-year-old daughter Hedwig is not his child. Gregers moves in with the Ekdals with the intention of allowing unsuspecting Hjalmar and his family to share in the "happiness of truth". Hedwig is entirely devoted to a wild duck, which lives on a pond outside their house. When Hjalmar learns the truth about his daughter, he wants to leave his family. Gregers advises Hedwig to kill the wild duck so that her father, impressed by this sacrifice, will return home. On the following day, Hedwig's birthday, she doesn't shoot the duck, but shoots herself instead.

Bärbel Schmitz buys her husband a shirt for his birthday. When she discovers a call for help from Bangladesh in it, a story begins that will turn Bärbel and her family's regular, conventional life completely upside down.

A tragedy brings a mother, daughter, and teenage boy together. Struggling with blame and forgiveness, the unlikely trio take a trip to Tenerife for a family holiday that never happened. Under the glow of the sun, past and present quietly start to overlap.

An ageing farmer and his young wife live in a lonely hut in the mountains. The farmer is a smuggler who the border police are trying to put a stop to. A young border hunter is sent to seduce the woman in order to find out where the man is hiding the smuggled goods. He in turn urges the woman to turn the border hunter's head so that he can go about his business undisturbed. But then the frontier hunter and the woman become truly passionate about each other, and the drama ends with murder and suicide. Based on the stage play by Karl Schönherr.

A farming village in the mountains is developing into a fitness center thanks to word of mouth. Young and old, pretty and not so pretty, are making pilgrimages into nature to experience the new "well of health"...

Passing Through is a 16mm music video for the song of the same name. Analog aesthetics in both film and music create a timeless ambiance, with the latter crafting a mature narrative exploring love’s value amid human imperfections.