The Viennale is delighted to announce one of the highlights of this year’s program. The festival, which takes place from October 16 to 28, will welcome actress Juliette Binoche as its special guest.
Juliette Binoche is among the most important figures in international cinema and has captivated audiences since the 1980s with numerous extraordinary performances in both European and Hollywood productions. For her consistently curious and exploratory artistic work, she has received countless awards – including the European Film Award in 1992 for LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF, the César in 1994 for TROIS COULEURS: BLEU, and the Academy Award in 1997 for THE ENGLISH PATIENT. Since May 2024, she has served as President of the European Film Academy. At the Viennale, she was most recently seen in 2023 in LA PASSION DE DODIN BOUFFANT.
“Juliette Binoche embodies the infinite possibilities of cinema,” says Viennale Director Eva Sangiorgi. “She represents its history, its present, and its tireless pursuit of new challenges. To welcome her to Vienna in the dual role of director and actress is a tribute to her boundless versatility – because, like cinema itself, she is infinite."
At the Viennale, Juliette Binoche will present her first directorial work.
IN-I IN MOTION
France 2025, 156 min, OV w/engl subtitles
Director: Juliette Binoche
With Juliette Binoche, Akram Khan
In 2007, French actress Juliette Binoche partnered with British dancer-choreographer Akram Khan to create a bold stage performance titled In-I that toured worldwide to great acclaim. For her directorial debut, Binoche has unearthed the many hours of footage documenting the project’s production. Her film takes us from the creative laboratory of the rehearsals to the final performance, where decor and lightning contribute greatly to enliven and enhance all that we’ve seen sketched out in the preceding scenes. IN-I IN MOTION captures the incredible amount of energy and intensity that Binoche and Khan invest in this risky journey into unknown territory. While both artists excel in their respective fields, their joint experiment required them to move beyond their comfort zones, each wrestling with an unfamiliar language in order to express themselves. The original performance revolved around the different stages of a love relationship, offering a poignant reflection about the walls both internal and interpersonal that we encounter when trying to engage with someone different to us. The film cleverly reconfigures and expands this theme by showing creation as a collaborative act, insisting on the capacity of art to push boundaries. (Cristina Álvarez López)
In the presence of Juliette Binoche.