Viennale preview

by Bénédicte Prot

20/08/2007 - Austria’s most important film festival the Viennale (October 19-31) has unveiled some of the 120-130 features and documentaries that will make up what promises to be an attractive programme.

Five features already selected have been much talked about. First up is 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [trailer, film focus] by Romanian helmer Cristian Mungiu (see Focus), which won the Palme d’Or in May, a prize it fought out with Ulrich Seidl’s Austrian film Import Export [trailer] (see article), also selected for Vienna.

Berlinale prizewinner (see interview) Hotel Very Welcome by Germany’s Sonja Heiss also features, along with Gus Van Sant’s French co-production Paranoid Park [trailer] and Tom Kalin’s Cannes Director’s Fortnight entry Savage Grace (Spain/France/US, see article).

While most of these features have documentary tones, the section reserved for the latter genre consists of biographies and portraits, such as Elle s'appelle Sabine [trailer], in which French actress Sandrine Bonnaire films her autistic sister, and UK co-production Scott Walker: 30 Century Man.

The Viennale will devote a special programme to Lady Chatterley [trailer] director Pascale Ferran and to Austrian working class cinema. This year’s Tribute section is dedicated to Jane Fonda, who will also attend the event.

The full programme will be announced on the evening of October 3. For further information, visit the festival web site.

(Translated from French)