In Kaiser Franz Joseph I. in Sarajevo, just a few simple shots, together with an almost rudimentary directorial approach, were enough to capture an important chapter in history. Restored by Filmarchiv Austria and shown on the Filmarchiv On channel.
Reise durch den Pongau is a brief chapter within a vast filmography intended to recount life in Austria in the early 20th century and to showcase the country’s beauty. Restored by Filmarchiv Austria and available on the channel Filmarchiv On.
Exciting Reading stands out above all for its subtle irony and decidedly rudimentary directorial approach. Just like all the other films by film pioneer Johann Schwarzer.
In Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht we immediately recognise a strong influence from the cinema of Georges Méliès, especially with regard to the double exposure scenes and the strongly fairytale-like (sometimes even dreamlike) atmosphere of the whole film. This short film tries its way without pretending to become a “revolutionary” film. Yet, with its elegant mise-en-scene and its simplicity, it seems to us, today, more precious than ever.
The fascination with the seventh art is conveyed in all its power in Kundgebung für Kaiser Franz Joseph vor dem Brigittenauer Kino anlässlich seines Geburtstages. And although cinema had already been invented for several years by then, it was still, in Austria, a quite extraordinary thing.
Still considered one of the most fascinating documentaries about Emperor Franz Joseph, S M. Kaiser Franz Joseph I. auf der Gamsjagd bei Ischl shows us a whole day spent by the Emperor at his residence in Ischl, during which he organised a chamois hunt.
Österreichische Alpenbahnen. Eine Fahrt nach Mariazell (“Austrian Alpine Railways. A Trip to Mariazell”), filmed in 1910, and one of the milestones of early Austrian cinema, includes small camera movements for the first time, with a direction that, although decidedly essential, seems much more self-confident than what had been seen just a few years earlier. At the Viennale 2019, as part of the retrospective dedicated to Louise Kolm-Fleck.