The Austrians are enjoying perhaps the greatest flowering of cinematic talent in seventy years… Steven Gaydos – VARIETY

Adrian Martin, Head of Film and Television Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, has entitled his preface to the volume Film Unframed. A History of Austrian Avant-garde Cinema1 “Dream of Austria”. He goes on to write that “Austria happens to be a haven and a utopia for one simple, remarkable and quite unique reason: It is a country that, culturally speaking, respects its avantgarde filmmakers, present, past and future … Whoever enters and maintains the cultural infrastructure of Austria seems to have seen things the right way up.” In a similar vein, many international publications relate the success of Austrian filmmakers to the country’s film funding structure. To the public eye and the media, accomplishments such as Karl Markovics receiving the Europa Cinemas Label at Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) for his feature debut Atmen or the fact that Josef Dabernig‘s Hypercrisis was nominated for a European Film Award at the Venice Film Festival have long become everyday fare. Films are internationally successful if they cause a stir artistically, focus on relevant societal issues or even highlight opposing views, as Der Prozess by Gerald Igor Hauzenberger currently does. It is essential for ambitious highquality films to be noticed and seen by many people. For this reason, I keep calling for new distribution channels to be opened in order to reach wider as well as young audiences. Thus, for instance, we are intensifying our film education activities in schools. Innovative Film Austria gives courageous and ambitious filmmakers the chance to make use of their talent and skills and step into the public limelight. Innovative Film Austria has already contributed to major success stories, and these achievements show how important it is to support film projects that represent the avant-garde as well as the diversity of Austrian filmmaking. In addition to financial support, attractive broadcasting slots on Austrian television are of key importance here. In this spirit, may you delight in new and exciting discoveries in the reading of this catalogue! Dr. Claudia Schmied Federal Minister for Education, the Arts and Culture

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Adrian Martin, Head of Film and Television Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, has entitled his preface to the volume Film Unframed. A History of Austrian Avant-garde Cinema1 “Dream of Austria”. He goes on to write that “Austria happens to be a haven and a utopia for one simple, remarkable and quite unique reason: It is a country that, culturally speaking, respects its avantgarde filmmakers, present, past and future … Whoever enters and maintains the cultural infrastructure of Austria seems to have seen things the right way up.” In a similar vein, many international publications relate the success of Austrian filmmakers to the country’s film funding structure. To the public eye and the media, accomplishments such as Karl Markovics receiving the Europa Cinemas Label at Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) for his feature debut Atmen or the fact that Josef Dabernig‘s Hypercrisis was nominated for a European Film Award at the Venice Film Festival have long become everyday fare. Films are internationally successful if they cause a stir artistically, focus on relevant societal issues or even highlight opposing views, as Der Prozess by Gerald Igor Hauzenberger currently does. It is essential for ambitious highquality films to be noticed and seen by many people. For this reason, I keep calling for new distribution channels to be opened in order to reach wider as well as young audiences. Thus, for instance, we are intensifying our film education activities in schools. Innovative Film Austria gives courageous and ambitious filmmakers the chance to make use of their talent and skills and step into the public limelight. Innovative Film Austria has already contributed to major success stories, and these achievements show how important it is to support film projects that represent the avant-garde as well as the diversity of Austrian filmmaking. In addition to financial support, attractive broadcasting slots on Austrian television are of key importance here. In this spirit, may you delight in new and exciting discoveries in the reading of this catalogue! Dr. Claudia Schmied

Published by Federal Minister for Education, the Arts and Culture, 2011 Vienna