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Michelle Falkenbach

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Stories from Michelle Falkenbach

05 Viennale 2009
Vienna’s “Ideal” Film Fest
Venue & schedule changes bring new energy to the Viennale
Michelle Falkenbach
01/10/2009

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.

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A Feast of Film
VIENNALE 2008: Now a major European festival with Godard, Dylan and more, in a mosaic of image and homage
Michelle Falkenbach
Michael Weingartner
18/02/2009

Berlin, Venice, Cannes -- European cities turn into theater for the festivals of film that have become a way of life. Vienna's festival, founded in 1962, is the newest of these film appreciation parties, attracts nearly 100,000 visitors each year in October.

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Cirque du Soleil
A visual feast of acrobatics, mime, dance and music amid an entourage of VIPs and a shower of popcorn
Michelle Falkenbach
18/02/2009

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.

Italian Dining Adventure
Welcome to Ilona’s Stueberl, where pasta is nowhere to be found
Michelle Falkenbach
02/12/2008

The three of us, my aunt, sister and I, were on a mission. We needed to find a good and decently priced place for dinner without going to our usual haunts (Café d’Europe on the Graben or Café le Bol) and still have enough time to make it to our 20:30 movie.

Walking out of the UBahn, the words chianti, and prosecco leaped out from a hand written tablet. Aha! We quickly made our way to an empty table. But what was that waiter saying? I struggled to dust off my Italian…

Piaf
La Môme Piaf
Swiss-born Actress Maria Bill Recreates the Iconic ‘Chanteuse’
Michelle Falkenbach
02/11/2008

On a black, minimalist set, a piano and accordion player are set up on stage right, standing across from a bed with a few belongings scattered on the floor. Front and center- the microphone. With a tousled head of brown hair and large, lively eyes, singer Maria Bill shuffles out onto the stage in a black, long-sleeved gown, the signature performance dress of the little sparrow, the legendary French singer Edith Piaf.

 

Gartenbau Kino
Kino Wien
Vienna hosts an international movie-viewing marathon
Michelle Falkenbach
02/11/2008

The Opening

The 56th annual Viennale International Film festival opened with a bang on Friday, Oct. 17, starting with the highly anticipated trailer by legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard, followed by the widely acclaimed Entre les Murs by Laurent Cantet. Even with a press pass, it was next to impossible to get tickets to the “gala”. However, there were rumored to be three “surprise” guests: the leading actors of Entre les Murs – François Bégaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela –arrived at Gartenbaukino last minute along with Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, cult musician Stefan Weber and star guest Garth Hudson, legendary member of The Band and Winner of the Grammy Life Time Achievement award.

Whiskey
Whiskey Stübl
The finest selected spirits on sale for the connoisseur
Michelle Falkenbach
02/11/2008

The walls of the old shop were covered on all sides by battered wooden shelves, stacked with bottles of Bourbon and Scotch. It was a whiskey lovers paradise – everything from a 30 year aged Highland Park for 139 Euros a bottle, to a young Glengoyne priced at a moderate 30 Euros.

I grabbed the last of the wooden folding chairs, careful not to knock over the best selling bottles, displayed on “aging barrels” throughout the middle of the store.

 

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