Dear friends,
The Austrian Cultural Forum is delighted to welcome you to the 6th edition of the Austrian Film Week in Israel and to invite you to explore contemporary Austrian cinematography – on the big screen and in the cushioned seats of the auditorium.
In light of the manifold restrictions this past year has confronted us with in terms of cultural activity, the value of motion picture became evident during that time. In the realm of our four walls, movies proved to be an essential element to uphold cultural encounters and to find avenues for temporary escape from a challenging environment of constraint.
Echoing hardship and uncertainty, this year’s selection of the Austrian Film Week offers multiple approaches to stories of sorrow, struggle and suffering and introduces a variety of remarkable characters, fates and and their pursuit of overcoming.
In “The Last Austrians”, Lukas Pitscheider documents life in a remote village in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, inhabited by descendants of Austrians relocated from the west to the east in the 18th century, and follows them as they need to take fundamental decisions, torn between leaving and staying. “The Tobacconist” by Nikolaus Leytner explores the friendship between a young man and Sigmund Freud and the impact the “Anschluss” unfolds on both their lives and their special bond. “Mauthausen – Two Lives” provides the captivating recollection by two men of their time in the Austrian Extermination Camp during the Nazi regime – one as a prisoner, one as an apprentice. Shirin Neshat’s cinematographic masterpiece “Women Without Men” depicts the life and challenges of four women set against the backdrop of political and societal turmoil in Tehran in the 1950ies. “Nobadi” by Karl Markovics presents a short and impactful encounter between an Austrian pensioner and an Afghani refugee, aiming for a better life in Europe.
We thank the participating cinematheques, filmmakers, actresses and actors, as well as our interested audience in Israel for making the Austrian Film Week possible and look forward to sharing many interesting screenings of this year’s selection with you.
With my best regards,
Arno Mitterdorfer
Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum Tel Aviv
