Viennale 2025: Award Ceremony Takes Place at Vienna's Gartenbaukino

The 63rd Viennale comes to an end on Tuesday evening after 13 festival days full of cinematic offerings. Festival director Eva Sangiorgi can be pleased with an increase in attendance: 78,600 tickets were sold. This corresponds to 78.3 percent of the available tickets, representing an increase of two percentage points compared to the previous year. At the closing gala in the Gartenbaukino, a total of five film awards will be presented and the closing film will be shown.

Review from Viennale Director

"This edition was simply overwhelming," Sangiorgi was quoted in a press release. She felt a "lively energy, a continuous dialogue between the films in the program, the audience, and the guests." "The need to engage with our time is enormous, and cinema proves to be a uniquely strong and privileged medium," she said.

The Vienna Film Award for a current Austrian feature film that was screened in the past year goes to "Perla" by Alexandra Makarová, who, according to the jury's reasoning, succeeded in presenting a "masterful film about identity and the many faces of the Cold War." The jury's special prize is awarded to the documentary "Girls & Gods" by Arash T. Riahi and Verena Soltiz. In it, Ukrainian Femen activist Inna Shevchenko dedicates herself in many conversations to the relationship between feminism and religion. "Captivating and an eye-opener," said the jury.

The FIPRESCI Prize of the international film critics is awarded to a first or second feature by young filmmakers. This year it goes to "BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions" by Kahlil Joseph. The jury recognizes in the work of the American a "much-needed challenge to the hegemony of white Western narratives." The film encourages the erasure and rethinking of views from memory.

"Late Fame", "White Snail", "Rojo Žalia Blau"

The "Standard" Viennale Audience Jury decided to award "Late Fame" by Kent Jones. In the loose adaptation of the novella "Late Fame" by Arthur Schnitzler, the filmmaker "collides artistic nostalgia with the restless self-staging of contemporary artists," it was stated. The award is reserved for a film that does not yet have a distributor in Austria.

The Erste Bank Film Prize this year goes not only to an Austrian film shown at the Viennale but to two: "White Snail" by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, as well as "Rojo Žalia Blau" by Viktoria Schmid. "White Snail" - a film about two outsiders who could hardly be more different - takes viewers on a "fairytale journey" of the couple with "strong contrasts and symbolic images." "Refreshing and honest," according to the jury. The landscape study "Rojo Žalia Blau" is, in turn, an "extraordinary, astonishing visual experience."

Closing Film at Viennale

For the closing film, Sangiorgi chose "Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani" (What This Nature Tells You) by South Korean master director Hong Sangsoo. The quiet work depicts a poet with a blurred vision, whose relationship with his girlfriend is gently shaken during a family visit.

Dafoe, Binoche, Ducournau

The celebrity highlights of the film festival can probably be considered the visits of Willem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, and director Julia Ducournau. Actor star Dafoe presented the film "The Souffleur" with director Gastón Solnicki - a cinematic monument to the Hotel Intercontinental. Oscar winner Binoche came to present her first directorial work: the documentary "In-I in Motion," which captures a performance experience of hers from 18 years ago. And Ducournau, who was awarded the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2021 for "Titane," presented her latest film "Alpha."

(APA/Red)

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