Gita Kaufman Retraces the Shadows From My Past
Gita Weinrauch Kaufman “can never forget, nor forgive, what happened.” She wanted us to know that right off, from the beginning, before trying to pull the many threads of place and memory together. The result became Shadows From My Past, a new documentary by Mrs. Kaufman and her late husband Curt that will be screened [...]
Documentary Film: The law in these parts
Today, the Filmcasino is hosting a Mediterranean breakfast starting at 11:00, before the screen of The law in these parts, a documentary investigation by Ra’anan Alexandrowicz into the justice of the Israeli legal system. It has been the winner of the World Cinema Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 and won “Best Documentary” at the [...]
Rathkolb: Revisiting Interwar History
For much of early March, it was nearly impossible to get historian Oliver Rathkolb on the phone. He did better with emails, dashing off two-to-five word answers, with links or attachments. Signed characteristically, “herzlichst, OR”. When he was finally able to pry loose for a few minutes, he sounded harassed – but not unhappy. Leading [...]
Wolf Suschitzky: A Craftsman Celebrates His Centennial
“When my mother returned home with me after giving birth, my four-year-old sister’s only comment was: ‘What did we need him for?’” the gentle smile of Austrian-born photographer and filmmaker Wolf Suschitzky was captivating. “Of course, I couldn’t respond to that right away.” Born in Vienna in August 1912, Wolf Suschitzky has been living in [...]
Gone: An American Vanishes in Vienna
Aeryn Gilleran was a civil servant like many in Vienna; he had been a researcher at the United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO) since 2003, and was elected staff council in 2007, when suddenly, he vanished. Now five years later, this unsolved mystery is the subject of a compelling, profoundly moving documentary, Gone, by Gretchen and [...]
A Bosnian Pyramid, Or Just a Very Big Hill?
In 2005, historian and businessman Semir Osmanagi began an investigation of Visocica hill in the Visoko valley, a 30-minute drive north-west of Sarajevo. Then he wrote a book, claiming that the 220-metre-high hill was the remains of an ancient “Pyramid of the Sun”, one of several colossal stone structures in the vicinity, now overgrown with [...]
Screens of Change
The bar of Kino Kriterion is brimming with people; the cool of its chessboard floor tiles and monochromatic, 1960s interior is matched by the crowd: little black dresses, angular haircuts, scarlet lipstick. This invitation-only reception could almost be taking place at the Berlinale, were it not for the cheap high-heels and unpretentious atmosphere. There are [...]
Honoured Past, Bold Future
Heading into its 50th year, the The Viennale International Film Festival Vienna is still taking risks in 2011, with the schedules and plans announced at its pre-season press conference in August. The roughly 130 new feature films scheduled include big names along with new discoveries; from classic narrative to experimental forms; from genre films to [...]
Eating Light
The tiny Kinosaal in the Apollo Cinema in Vienna’s 6th District would become this evening’s host for P.A Straubinger’s debut film “Am Anfang war das Licht,” an Austrian documentary on the mysticism of light nutrition. Munching our popcorn, we soon felt the gnawing of conscience; all those people we were about to see, living next to [...]
