The Austrian film festival Diagonale will take place in Graz from April 5th to 10th almost like in pre-Corona times. Film screenings in the cinema, discussions, meetings – all with the necessary caution, because it “is once again taking place in times of crisis”, emphasized director Sebastian Höglinger. 113 Austrian films will be shown in the competition, and the opening will feature “Sonne” by Kurdwin Ayub, in several Austrian cinemas at the same time for the first time.
“Cinema is a place to broaden your own perspective,” said Höglinger, who had to do without his colleague Peter Schernhuber, who was in quarantine, at the program presentation in Graz on Thursday. This look is also an occasion “for a spark of hope”.
The day after the opening film, the Helmut-List-Halle will be used again for the gala premiere of Ulrich Seidl’s “Rimini”. In the film, a run-down hit star tries to keep up his illusionary world of fame and success in a state of constant intoxication. “For the Many – The Chamber of Labor” by former Diagonale director Constantin Wulff will also be shown. The film shows the interaction between institution and society by depicting a precise portrait of a bureaucracy at the service of solidarity.
Also on view in the feature film category is Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer”, a “high alpine chamber play” and “Para:dies”, a docu-fiction by Elena Wolff, which is about a queer person’s self-discovery. “Der Onkel/The Hawk” by Helmut Köpping and Michael Ostrowski is a “cultivated border crossing along the lines of good taste”, described Höglinger.
The special “Intoxication” includes six programs. Questions such as how cinema stages, negotiates and addresses intoxication will be examined. The focus is on the Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll trilogy by director Michael Glawogger. To set the mood, the short film “Plasma” (2004) by filmmaker Mara Mattuschka, who also contributed animations to Glawogger’s feature film, will also be shown. Other films in this special include “Ekstasy” (1933) by Gustav Machaty, “Vollgas” (2001) by Sabine Derflinger, “Der Ball” (1982) by Ulrich Seidl or “Turn & Drink” (2013) by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.
Derflinger is also represented with her new work “Alice Schwarzer”, a documentary about the icon of the women’s movement. Themes related to the war are “Because they know what they are doing” by Gerald Igor Hauzenberger and “Signs of War” by Jury Rechinsky and Pierre Crom.
Another special is dedicated to the films that were shot in “Thaliwood”, i.e. the film area at Graz Thalerhof Airport, from 1947 to 1953. Curd Jürgens directed “Premiums on Death” (1949), and Leopold Lindtberg’s “The Four in a Jeep” (1951) was particularly well known. In addition to the original works, Lotte Schreiber’s “Tracing Thalerhof” (2014) will also be shown.
The “Personal” series shows works by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel. The two filmmakers have already received several awards at the Diagonale, most recently with the Grand Documentary Film Award for “Records from the Underworld”. Now, for the first time, there will be a comprehensive exhibition of her work.
The program series “In Reverence” features three films by Friederike Petzold, and Michael Haneke is honored for his 80th birthday with a double screening of the German and American versions of “Funny Games” and “Funny Games US”.
The big award ceremony, which will again take place live in the Orpheum this year, has been moved to Sunday so that Saturday can still be used for premieres, explained Höglinger.
INFO: www.diagonale.at