In our VIENNALE DAILIES you'll find everything you need to know about what's happening around the festival!
Der Film ist zu Ende, aber blickt weiter. Die letzten Blicke, ab jetzt gehört der Film den Figuren auf der Leinwand.
Christian Petzold, Viennale President
VIENNALE FALTER
THE V'25 OPENING FILM
MIROIRS NO. 3
Germany 2025, 86 min, OV w/ ENG subtitles & OV w/ ENG subtitles + VI
Dir: Christian Petzold
Despite feeling gloomy, aspiring pianist Laura (Christian Petzold’s regular muse Paula Beer) joins her obnoxious boyfriend on a road trip out of Berlin for the weekend, but soon begs to head home. Cue the Petzoldian car crash, a red convertible upside down, wheels spinning, which Laura survives. She is taken in by Betty (Barbara Auer), a woman stuck in an unresolvable trauma of her own. As Laura wilfully adopts a life in limbo, she is gradually made over into a member of Betty’s fractured family, alongside a father and son involved in the sort of shifty business that also peppers the director’s work. Yet the days of this precariously idyllic situation are as numbered as the movements in the titular Ravel composition. “Miroirs No. 3” is performed in F Minor, and one could be forgiven for calling the film “minor Petzold” if one cared about such designations. Yes, he’s remaking VERTIGO (1958) once again, but in the context of an internal family dynamic he hasn’t explored since DIE INNERE SICHERHEIT (2000)—coincidentally, his only other film to screen in Cannes, also featuring Auer. MIROIRS NO. 3 is economical, masterful filmmaking that studies trauma and grief with a surprisingly light hand...let’s call it the Petzold touch. (Mark Peranson)
In the presence of Christian Petzold!
JOHN C. REILLY IS GUEST OF THE VIENNALE 2025
The Viennale is pleased to welcome the actor together with directors Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi, presenting their new film TESTA O CROCE?. All three will be present at the screenings on October 18 and 19 and will participate in a Q&A afterwards.
TESTA O CROCE?
Italy, USA 2025, 113 min, OV w/ENG subtitles
Dir: Matteo Zoppis, Alessio Rigo de Righi
With: John C. Reilly, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Alessandro Borghi
October 18, 3.30 pm: Gartenbaukino
October 19, 8.00 pm: Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
The films of Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis are born of a rough magic: informed by folk tales and the timeless beauty of the Italian countryside, the duo craft bold, melancholy stories brimming with half-fulfilled dreams and a yearning for distant lands. TESTA O CROCE? is inspired by a true event—a rodeo challenge between Buffalo Bill Cody (a flamboyant John C. Reilly) and his cowboys, who toured Italy at the turn of the 20th century with their Wild West show, and a group of local butteri. From this starting point, the directors craft an unconventional Western, upending clichés of the genre to craft an astonishingly witty, song-filled adventure, where greed and the thirst for power clash with political dissent. At its heart is a couple seeking only freedom and happiness, their fate left to a coin toss. The true protagonist isn’t Santino, the reluctant buttero hero, but rather Rosa, a young woman brave enough to stand up to every man who tries to dominate or manipulate her—be it her husband, Buffalo Bill himself or even the ghost of her lost lover. Bathed in a raw celluloid glow, Rosa doesn’t just survive—she rides off into the sunset, proud and free, a true symbol of feminine empowerment. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)
Filmtip
Hemelsleutel
Netherlands 2025, 96 min, OV w/ ENG subtitles
Dir: Digna Sinke
Friday, October 17, 6.00 pm: Metro, Historischer Saal
Wednesday, October 22, 12.30 pm: Urania
HEMELSLEUTEL is the latest work by prolific filmmaker Digna Sinke—an exploration of loss and desire, a film about a character and a director discovering themselves through each other’s doubts and regrets. In this delicate interplay of fiction and non-fiction, past and present passions intertwine with subtle emotional resonance. At its heart is Lea, a photographer “old enough to have a past” and “neither ugly nor beautiful,” as described by both the script and its creator, the director herself—our narrator and master of Lea’s destiny. Commissioned to document the green transition of Amsterdam’s harbour area, Lea embarks on a journey that soon drifts beyond her assignment. As she explores the immense site, memories from her youth resurface, turning her work into a personal excavation. Lea is a character wrapped in mystery. Her identity gradually takes form through souvenirs—fragments of the past triggered by her encounters and by the landscape itself. Shot with a documentary eye and a keen understanding of meta cinema, HEMELSLEUTEL captivates with the gentleness of its narration and the precision of its framing. In modest, steadfast fashion, Sinke composes an epic about a woman healing through curiosity and desire. (Rebecca De Pas)
In the presence of Digna Sinke and Gerwin Tamsma (curator).
In addition to Digna Sinke’s latest film HEMELSLEUTEL, the Viennale is dedicating a monography to the Dutch filmmaker. Find out more about the monography DIGNA SINKE HERE. An overview of all screenings can be found HERE.
VIENNALE TALKS, VIENNALE PARTYS & VIENNALE MEETING POINT
This year’s supporting program around the Viennale is just as diverse as its film lineup: in addition to three exciting TALKS, there will also be 2 PARTYS at the renowned Club PRATERSTRASSE. Find all events at a glance HERE! Moreover, for the first time, the Viennale invites guests to an official Meeting Point at the elegant Intermezzo Bar of the festival’s official hotel, the InterContinental Vienna.
FILMQUIZ & RAFFLES
To bridge the waiting time for the start of the festival, we recommend our V'25 film quiz and raffles from our cooperation partners. Win one (or more!) of many grat prizes – including festival passes from Buch Wien, annual tickets for the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien or Alfies vouchers. Have fun and good luck!
