Five films have been nominated for the fourth edition of the LUX Audience Award, which will be shown with free admission from Thursday, November 2 to Sunday, November 5 at Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus. Your vote also counts in deciding the winning film!
Thursday, November 2, 5 pm
SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD
Anna Hints | EST, F, IS 2023 | 89 min | OV with german subtitles
Through the seasons, from the icy blues to the most intense greens, the film observes - and listens to - women in the traditional Estonian smoke sauna. In the sepia-colored semi-darkness, they perform sauna practices and openly recount formative, often violent experiences. The women's experiences cut to the heart of the matter, since they are not "special" but have been an essential part of female biography from time immemorial to the present day. In the smoke sauna, archaic-mystical purification rituals are charged with solidary feminist energy, which in the end breaks through with the literal crying out of pain and fear. (Barbara Kronsfoth)
Reserve tickets HERE!
Friday, November 3, 8 pm
20.000 ESPECIES DE ABEJAS (20,000 SPECIES OF BEES)
Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren | E 2023 | 129 min | OV with german subtitles
Mit: Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain
The child does not feel comfortable in their skin. Wants dresses instead of pants, wants long hair, wants to play with girls. "Cocó" becomes the derisively used transitional name on the road that Aitor has to travel in order to finally be allowed to become Lucía. It's quite a strain for an eight-year-old child, but it's no walk in the park for those around him either. And because melodramatic patterns of manipulation are dispensed with, while there is great sensitivity in the interplay of the ensemble, the manifold possibilities of existence do not remain an assertion of the title, but are reflected in the unbiased view of the people the film tells about. (Alexandra Seitz)
Reserve tickets HERE!
Saturday, November 4, 6 pm
DAS LEHRERZIMMER (THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE)
Ilker Çatak | D 2023 | 96 min | OV
With: Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak
THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE is not at all a school comedy. Even though many a disbelieving, amazed laugh may result from the grotesque consequences of the attempt of an unappointed teacher to solve the petty thefts at her high school. All of a sudden, the manageable social space of the "school" expands into a social cosmos in which power relations are constantly renegotiated under constantly changing auspices. And soon it's no longer just about truth, lies and morals, but also about political correctness, cancel culture, fake news and the need for a scapegoat. Because we learn for life. (Alexandra Seitz)
Reserve tickets HERE!
Saturday, November 4, 8 pm
SUR L’ADAMANT (ON THE ADAMANT)
Nicolas Philibert | F, J 2022 | 109 min | OV with german subtitles
Although the Adamant is firmly anchored on the banks of the Seine in Paris, it nevertheless becomes a lifeboat: as a day clinic for people with mental impairments. Documentary filmmaker Philibert went on board there for some time to capture everyday life and togetherness in this unique cosmos away from the administrative mills of an overburdened healthcare system. SUR L'ADAMANT gives a lot of space to the patients, whom he meets at eye level and who give insights into their sometimes difficult everyday lives with tangible trust. A sensitive observation imbued with humanity.. (Sascha Rettig)
Reserve tickets HERE!
Sunday, November 5, 6 pm
KUOLLEET LEHDET (FALLEN LEAVES)
Aki Kaurismäki | FIN 2023 | 81 min | OV with german subtitles
Mit: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen
Aki Kaurismäki had actually already retired - but then he made a film in which he continues his early works set in a working-class milieu. A supermarket cashier and a construction worker fall in love, but obstacles stand in the way of their possible happiness: lost phone numbers, alcohol addiction, the war on the radio and exploitative local employment conditions. The two lonely souls get through it all with stoic composure - and with visits to the movies and bars in a film-noir Helsinki that seems to have fallen out of time in this dryly humorous romance. (Gian-Philip Andreas)
Currently no reservation – remaining tickets will be given out at the boxoffice before the screening.
FREE ADMISSION TO ALL SCREENINGS
Tickets are available on the day of the performance from 30 minutes before the start of the performance directly at the box office in the Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus.
Reservations on the stadtkinowien.at website.
Vote here: luxaward.eu/de
