Film Festival Vienna Shorts: New Edition, New Management
The International Short Film Festival Vienna Shorts kicked off its 22nd edition on Tuesday evening. For Karin Ginzel, who took on the role of commercial director in October 2024, the opening at the sold-out Gartenbaukino was her first, and for Daniel Hadenius-Ebner, it was his last: In September, he will hand over the artistic direction to the German film scholar and long-time festival employee Max Bergmann, whom he invited on stage for the symbolic handover.
Early Days of the Vienna Festival: "We Had No Money, But a Lot of Idealism"
Hadenius-Ebner, who remains connected to the festival and plans to bring his international experience in film and festival operations into a future role as a freelance consultant, took an emotional look back at the founding of the festival. It was first held in 2004 under the name Vienna Independent Shorts (VIS) in several Viennese art house cinemas: "It was a student initiative. We had no money, but a lot of idealism."
Today: Fair Compensation and a "Pay as You Wish" System
Today, in addition to the impressive numbers - by June 1, 374 films from 60 countries will be shown in competitions, portraits, late nights, open-air screenings, as well as children's and youth programs, and around 600 industry guests are expected - there is also pride in the fact that none of the 67 employees work for the festival without pay, as Hadenius-Ebner emphasized. On the other hand, a "Pay as You Wish" system is intended to allow all interested parties to attend the festival: "Based on personal circumstances, it is up to each viewer to decide how much they want to pay for a cinema ticket - the scale ranges from 4 euros to 7 euros, 10 euros, or 13 euros. Festival passes are also available starting at 20 euros," according to the festival.
Political Intimacy in Focus for 2025
Vienna Shorts is themed "Move Closer! Radical Intimacy" this year, which gave moderator Denice Bourbon the opportunity for some jokes on the opening night. "Intimacy is understood as a political space - and relationships and solidarity as acts of resistance," explains a programmatic statement about the theme. On the opening night, short films by Flurina Schneider, Marta Pajek, Kim Lêa Sakkal, Boris Hadzija and Hoda Taheri, Barbara Hammer, and Kurdwin Ayub provided a preview of the festival.
Trees Instead of Trophies for Vienna Shorts Festival Winners
In two national and two international competitions, 90 films selected from over 6,000 submissions compete for prize money of nearly 40,000 euros as well as qualification for the Oscars, European Film Awards, BAFTA, and Austrian Film Awards. Since 2023, winners are not awarded trophies but are instead honored with newly planted trees in the Vienna cityscape. Each tree has a QR code on its plaque, through which the corresponding short film can be streamed. Over the years, this is intended to create "a film and tree walk through the city."
(APA/Red)
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