Barbara Albert studied directing as well as screenplay writing and dramaturgy at Film Academy Vienna during the 1990s. Her graduation film Nordrand (1999), simultaneously her debut feature film, celebrated its world première at the Venice Film Festival and went on to achieve international renown. She has since been part of numerous prominent projects as a director, producer, and screenwriter.
The film industry is a rough place. Brutal competition along with the pressure to perform and deliver, tight schedules, and financial insecurity can combine to produce considerable mental strain. Against this backdrop, film director Leni Lauritsch has launched a new course with the intent of better preparing the young film professionals of Film Academy Vienna to deal with it all.
The #MeToo movement and especially last year’s debates in Austria regarding abuses of power on film sets have shifted a new, previously little-known job description into focus: that of “intimacy coordinator” (IC), for which EU-recognised training now exists.
The twelfth edition of the Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival (SESIFF) has sent out its invitations, and among their recipients is a six-person film delegation from Vienna. The reason is 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the festival’s “Austria Focus” in 2022. Several short films from Film Academy Vienna (including Bato Nebo, Echthaar, and Fische) are to be screened as their own block, a master class with director Magdalena Chmielewska (Lullaby) is scheduled, and The Best Orchestra in the World will be shown as part of the opening event.
Since 2015, EFP – European Film Promotion has been introducing ten outstanding young directors along with their current films in the Future Frames section of each year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Several Film Academy Vienna students having been represented there over the past few years, and this year once again saw a film make it into the official selection: Magdalena Chmielewska presented her Max Ophüls Prize-winning film Lullaby at the festival, and she spoke with mdw Magazin about the significance of such a film festival invitation and why she’s always thinking about her next project.
When actors, directors, and producers meet, casting calls are frequently the reason. As was the case this time—with one difference: to ring in the new year, Avia Seeliger met with Ercan Karaçayli, Daniel Holzberg, and Lena Weiss to discuss the phenomenon of typecasting.
Film editors do their work in the background, and exactly what goes on in the editing suite is familiar to very few. It’s there, however, that a film’s content and message are refined and honed, and it’s editing and sound that render the images truly effective. Film Academy editing students Julia Willi and Philipp Mayer tell us about their studies, editing’s importance in film production, and the soft skills brought to bear by editors in their work.
“What can we expect when we watch your movies at the cinema?” was the first question that mdw Magazine had for the Film Academy alumni Clara Stern and Peter Hengl. We quickly found out: before the audience can expect anything of their films, they’ll first have to fulfil their makers’ expectations—which are quite high indeed.
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