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CinemAUSTRIA 2024 kicks off. In Rome, at the Forum Austriaco di Cultura, from November 19, 2024 to March 11, 2025.
The warmth of cinema on cold winter evenings
A wonderful novelty is about to happen at the Forum Austriaco di Cultura Roma (viale Bruno Buozzi 113). From this year, in fact, the winter film festival CinemAUSTRIA will kick off, providing us with five monthly appointments that will offer us the opportunity to experience first-hand an exciting journey through past, present and (possible) future. The event is curated by Marina Pavido and includes a collaboration with the Tricky Women/Tricky Realities Film Festival in Vienna, which is directed by Waltraud Grausgruber and dedicated to short animated films made exclusively by women.
CinemAUSTRIA will kick off, therefore, on Tuesday, November 19, when, at 7 p.m., Washed Ashore will be screened, the second, beautiful and moving documentary by renowned director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, made in 1994 and which, through many stories of as many people living or working along the Danube, will offer us a special glimpse into many worlds that are, unfortunately, destined to vanish. Or maybe not? Before the film, there will also be a screening of the animated short film Subtopic, directed by Niki Schuster in 2023.
The next event of CinemAUSTRIA will therefore take place on Wednesday, December 11, again at 7pm, when the funny comedy The Migrumpies, directed by director, actor and producer Arman T. Riahi in 2017, will be screened. On this particular occasion, we will watch the adventures of Benny (played by Faris Endris Rahoma) and Marko (Aleksandar Petrović), two unemployed young men, who, in order to be chosen as the protagonists of a TV documentary, pretend to be petty migrant criminals. And through a series of unforeseen events and misadventures we will also be offered important food for thought. Before the film, there will be a screening of the animated videoclip Bite me, Baby, directed by Katarina Michelitsch in 2023.
We will already be in 2025 when the third appointment with CinemAUSTRIA will take place. On Tuesday, January 21, again at 7 p.m., in fact, we could attend the screening of Sparschwein, an amusing mockumentary directed and starring Christoph Schwarz, as well as his debut film after numerous short films, which through an impossible challenge, will show us how to survive a year without money, while also safeguarding the environment. Before the film, there will also be a screening of the animated short film The Flounder, directed by Elisabeth Hobbs in 2019.
Our beloved cinema has always taught us that it is important to continue to believe in our dreams, despite adversity, without ever forgetting that we were children. This is also the case, then, for the young and vulnerable Annika (played by Stefanie Reinsperger), who does not have an easy life at all, constantly busy with her work, her father who has moved in with her and who pretends to be an invalid to get a pension (Karl Fischer), and her problematic best friend (Julia Franz Richter). Yet, it would take ‘only’ a mermaid tail to make her life better. Our Annika, then, is the protagonist of the feature film Mermaids don’t cry, directed by Franziska Pflaum in 2022 and showing at CinemAUSTRIA on Tuesday, February 25 at 7 p.m. Before the film, there will also be a screening of the animated short film Tako Tsubo, directed by Eva Pedraza and Fanny Sorgo in 2024.
Our winter cinema will conclude on Tuesday, March 11, again at 7pm, with the screening of the excellent Favoriten, the newest documentary by renowned Ruth Beckermann, which was already a great success at the Berlinale 2024 and which will show us life inside a multi-ethnic primary schools in the Viennese district of Favoriten, through the vicissitudes of a group of students led by the loving teacher Ilkay Idiskut. Before the film, there will also be a screening of the animated short film When I woke up today, I didn’t know what Day it was. I think it’s Summer, directed by J.S. Schönbauer in 2024.
In short, lots of films, lots of emotions to be experienced in the warm and welcoming library of the Forum Austriaco di Cultura Roma. Ready for a new adventure?
Admission to the screenings is free, subject to prior reservation. To book, please write to events.rom-kf@bmeia.gv.at, specifying your name, surname and the film you have chosen.
Below are the reviews of the films at this edition of CinemAUSTRIA.
