During the Vienna Film Fund’s first session of 2020, the five members of the committee (Roshanak Behesht Nedjad, Gabor Greiner, Nicole Kellerhals, Manfred Schmidt and Gerlinde Seitner) decided that nine out of the 20 projects submitted would be supported with a total sum of €2.44 million.

Of this amount, €2,378,000 were allocated to the production of six films. Among the projects selected in this category is Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marie Kreutzer
intervista: Marie Kreutzer
scheda film], which received a grant of €635,000. The director is ready to follow up on her 2019 Berlinale competition entry The Ground Beneath My Feet [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marie Kreutzer
scheda film] with a film that centres on Empress Elisabeth “Sisi” of Austria. Set in 1877, Corsage will portray the monarch renowned for her beauty as she turns 40 and starts being considered an old woman. Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps is to play the lead role in Kreutzer’s upcoming feature, which is being co-produced by Austria’s Film AG Produktions GmbH, Germany’s Komplizen Film, Hungarian outfit Inforg-M&M and French company Playtime Productions.

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Another film that received a production grant (of €593,000) from the Vienna Film Fund is Andreas Schmied’s Love Machine 2, a sequel to Love Machine [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], the director’s successful comedy from last year. The film will follow Georgy Hillmaier as he comes back to Austria after a two-year absence, only to discover that he has become a father. Thomas Stipsits will reprise the role of Georgy in the feature being produced by Allegro Film. Principal photography is scheduled to take place this summer in Vienna.

Set in Vienna’s Metro stations, Chris Raiber’s Unter der Haut der Stadt also received production support from the funding body. The film will centre on Alexander, who, on his tenth birthday, pledges never to fall in love. Years later, when he meets Caro, he begins to change his mind. The movie, which was backed with a grant of €380,000, is being staged by Interspot Filmproduktion.

A further production grant (of €615,000) went to Schächten by Thomas Roth, a drama set in the late 1960s. The feature will depict the struggles of Victor Dessauer, the son of Jewish merchants, who finds out that the Nazi officer who tortured his parents will not be convicted. Repulsed by the sentence, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Viennese company Wiener Cult Film is producing Schächten together with Cologne-based Pandora Filmproduktion.

Two further grants were allocated to the production of documentary features. Michael Palm’s Parlament, produced by La Banda Film, received €119,000 worth of financial support, whereas Joerg Burger’s Darwins Arche, staged by Navigator Film, will be aided to the tune of €36,000.

In its first funding session of 2020, the Vienna Film Fund also supported the development of three films with a total amount of €67,500. The highest grant in this category went to Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s Melt, a documentary about climate change that will focus on ice, snow and icebergs. The film, produced by Nikolaus Geyrhalter Film, received a grant of €26,000.

Furthermore, Sabine Derflinger’s psycho-thriller Selmas Zeichen, which will tell the story of a female doctor who is being stalked by her neighbour, was backed with €24,000 worth of development support. Derflinger Film is producing the feature.

Lastly, a development grant of €17,500 went to Vlado Priborsky’s feature-length project Eskuhbar, which will revolve around two young women who unwittingly get involved with the Vienna drug scene. After a wild night of partying, the pair find a live cow stuffed with cocaine in their apartment. Eskuhbar is being staged by Samsara Film.