Michelle Falkenbach

So it seemed particularly frustrating when the room set up for the press conference at Vienna’s Palais Epstein on the Dr. Karl Renner Ring, Oct. 21, was still nearly empty just minutes before 10:00 on day of the event. And by the time it began, around 10:15, only 12 of the 30 chairs were filled. And out of those 12, only one of them was a man. Perhaps it was because of competition from to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s goodwill ambassador, actor Nicolas Cage, speaking about victims of organized crime at the same time across town.

If there is one good thing about the coming of fall, besides perhaps the beautiful autumn foliage, the return of the scarf and the availability of fresh pumpkin cream soup, it is the Vienna International Film Festival, the Viennale 2009.

Since its inception in 1960, Austria’s international film festival has sought to be artistically independent, impartial to political and commercial interests; in the meantime it has earned the reputation of being one of the most egalitarian and democratic film festivals in Europe.

On September 23, 2007 several billboards went up across Italy during Milan's fashion week while promoting the fashion brand Nolita. In this campaign against Anorexia Nervosa, the disease of self- starvation, Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani turned French actress Isabelle Caro into the new spokeswomen combating anorexia, displaying her emaciated body as a warning:

'Look!,' it says, 'this is reality' throughout Italy.

“I’m sorry, I can’t find the place! Joergerstrasse 23 -- I’m here and believe me, there’s no entrance to any club!” At this point, I could barely hold my phone.

The chimes have just sounded, as I take my seat, front and center, for the Cirque du Soleil, the visual feast of acrobatics, mime, dance, and music that has thrilled audiences since its founding in 1984. It's a vast space under the Big Top at the Messe Wien, a theater in the round, where you can see the stage from any seat in the house.

Suddenly, a shower of popcorn falls on the row in front as 'clowns' run up and down the aisles, tossing handfuls of it left and right. Then, as the last of the elegantly dressed VIPs have been ushered into their seats, the tent goes dark. And the stage comes alive.

The 250-seat theater in Vienna's English Cinema Haydn was sold out for the first screening of The Dark Knight, which opened in Austria Aug. 20. Fortunately we had thought to reserve tickets. Outside, expectant movie goers were speculating on the cast's talents, the changes to the story line and the supposed magnificence of the special effects. Mostly, however, they talked about Heath Ledger.