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VIENNA

What to know about this year’s Viennale film festival

It's that time of year when the Viennale takes over Vienna's cinemas. Here's what you need to know about the film festival.

The Viennale runs until October 31st
The Viennale runs until October 31st. Photo: Alexi Pelekanos

What is the Viennale?

The Viennale is Vienna’s annual international film festival. It takes place every year in October and attracts around 92,000 visitors.

The first ever event was held in 1959, although it was simply known as a celebration of the most interesting films from that year. It was organised by Austrian film journalists who were tired of the domestic film scene at the time, described as a “cinematic wasteland” on the Viennale website.

In the years that followed, the event became known as the Festival of Cheerfulness with a focus on comedies, before it moved towards the format that we see today.

The Viennale is now Austria’s largest international film festival and awards several prizes at the gala closing ceremony every year.

In 2023, the event runs from Thursday, October 19th to Tuesday, October 31st.

READ ALSO: Caffeine, war and Freud: A history of Vienna’s iconic coffee houses

What are the highlights of this year’s festival?

The annual international film festival will include feature films from all over the world including Austria, Chile, Argentina, France, Belgium and the USA – to name but a few.

Venues include Gartenbaukino on Parkring, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus on Akademiestrasse, and the Österreichische Filmmuseum on Augustinerstrasse. Kunsthalle will also be used in the festivities. 

“It’s a festival for the city,” Viennale’s artistic director Eva Sangiorgi said when announcing this year’s line-up.

The Viennale

Photo: Viennale/Heidrun Henke

The 61st edition of the festival has a range of showings featuring old favourites and newcomers. The focus this year is on Chilean cinema, with the retrospective dedicated to late Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz, whose work – much of which was experimental – is still relatively unknown. 

Ruiz was born in Chile in 1941 but went into exile in France after the 1973 military coup by Augusto Pinochet.

The festival’s cinematography section will show films by renowned Chilean directors as well as less well-known filmmakers. 

Meanwhile, the histography part of the festival will focus on James Baldwin. 

Additionally, several English language films will be screened at the festival, including Priscilla by Sofia Coppola, She Came to Me by Rebecca Miller, Blackberry by Matt Johnson, All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh, the Holdovers by Alexander Payne as well as the Joan Baez documentary ‘I am Noise’.

However, many films are shown with English subtitles so check the programme. 

A host of special guests are set to visit the festival for talks, including French actress Catherine Deneuve on October 26th. 

The Vienna Film Prize, an award sponsored by the City of Vienna, is given to a current Austrian feature film that has been screened in the past year.  In addition to the prize for the best Austrian film, there’s also a Special Jury Prize. 

These awards take place during the closing gala of the Viennale on the evening of October 31st.

When and where can I buy tickets?

Tickets are already on sale and can be bought online, by phone or at the Gartenbaukino box office on Parkring.

Tickets can also be purchased at the festival cinemas. A wait list will be in place for sold out screenings.

For online ticket sales, you have to register in advance at the festival website, viennale.at.

A single ticket costs €10.50 and there is a special rate of €7.50 for daytime tickets for some members of the public including pensioners and students.

You can download the pocket guide here

With reporting by Hayley Maguire

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WHAT'S ON IN VIENNA

Donauinselfest 2024: What to know about Austria’s biggest open-air festival

On Friday June 21st, Austria's largest open-air festival starts in Vienna. Here's what you need to know about the free event and how to get there.

Donauinselfest 2024: What to know about Austria's biggest open-air festival

The Austrian Donauinselfest is known as the largest free open-air music festival in Europe. It happens yearly on Vienna’s Danube island and attracts around three million visitors over three days, from Friday the 21st until Sunday the 23rd.

The festival has been happening yearly since 1983 on the 21.1-kilometre river island. According to the official website, this year, it has several different areas and 14 stages. Visitors can expect more than 700 hours of the program.

The large festival stage offers a mix of music: The line-up includes Austropop legend Wolfgang Ambros & No. 1 vom Wienerwald, Christina Stürmer, Ronan Keating, Provinz, Juju, Alice Merton and Wanda. 

On the rock stage this year, visitors can listen to acts such as Skindred, Madsen, Voodoo Jürgens, Der Nino aus Wien & die AusWienBand, PÄM, Emil Bulls, Itchy and Kontrust.

Dance and party at the OBI / kronehit electronic music stage to acts such as Twocolors, Tita Lau and Lumix. Other stages include the Schlager & Austrohits, which features classic Austrian music and culture.

READ ALSO: How you can watch Euro 2024 matches in Austria

Sports and dance programme

A varied sports and dance program spans all three days and offers exercise sessions for all generations. Yoga, 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, dance workshops, other sporting activities, and hands-on stations await you!

“The Donauinselfest is more than just a music festival. It is a place where people from all districts of Vienna and far beyond come together. They want to celebrate and have fun together, participate in sporting activities, learn about various topics and use different services directly on-site. This colourful mix of art and culture, as well as fun, action, sports, design and consulting services, will be offered all day long on the festival grounds this year,” said Matthias Friedrich, project manager of the event.

READ ALSO: 10 things you should do in Austria this June

How do I get there?

The best way to reach the festival is by public transportation. From the Handelskai (U6), Neue Donau (U6) and Donauinsel (U1) metro stations, it takes just a few minutes to get directly to the festival grounds.

Wiener Linien shortens the intervals between subway trains to three minutes in the evening to make it easier for visitors to leave. The best way to get there by bus or streetcar is to take lines 25, 26, 31, and 29A—the intervals are shortened here on Friday and Saturday nights.

You can also get to the festival site by WienMobil bike. Three temporary stations will be set up for this purpose, where bikes can be rented and returned around the clock. The stations are at Floridsdorfer Brücke, at the Handelskai main entrance and Reichsbrücke. The exact locations can be found in the nextbike app.

READ ALSO: 10 exciting events in Vienna this June

What am I allowed to take? 

Bags and rucksacks up to A3 size are permitted – anything larger is not. If you have a container with you that is larger than A3 format, the security service deployed is entitled to deny you access to the festival grounds. Any large and bulky objects, including folding chairs, are also not allowed (there are several benches and tables on site)

Umbrellas are not allowed for safety reasons – this also applies to toddlers, so please bring a rain poncho if you have one. In case of rain, rain ponchos will also be distributed on-site by the festival organisers and numerous sponsors while stocks last.

Animals are not allowed at the festival – except for guide and assistance dogs. 

You’re also not allowed to bring cans and glass bottles, alcoholic drinks or any drugs. You can bring non-alcoholic drinks in PET water bottles or drinking bottles with a size of up to 0.5 litres. If you need to carry larger quantities of liquid for medical reasons, please contact the responsible security service on site. There are also numerous free water dispensers throughout the festival site. People cannot bring meals, only small snacks such as protein bars or fruits. 

READ ALSO: How the New Danube protects Vienna from catastrophic floods

Of course, weapons of any kind or objects that could be used as weapons. Drones, pyrotechnic articles and laser pointers are also banned.

Finally, the festival also forbids entrance with any “propaganda” or “advertising” material, including “simply political or religious or racist, xenophobic, national socialist, sexist, etc”. 

What else do I need to know?

The festival is free, but anything you consume there, such as food and beverages, is paid for. You can pay with cash or a card. The festival has numerous water dispensers free of charge, so it’s worth it to take a water bottle to refill (up to 0.5 litres is allowed).

Toilet facilities are in place throughout the festival site. A visit to a toilet in a fixed facility or a toilet container costs 0.50 cents – use of the porta-potties is free. If you plan to stay longer at the Danube Island Festival, you can buy an #allyoucanheisl band at a fixed facility or a toilet container (EUR 2.50 for one day, EUR 5.00 for all three festival days).

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