The Viennale is pleased to already announce the opening as well as the closing film of this year's festival.

The Viennale will open on Thursday, October 19, with the Hungarian film MAGYARÁZAT MINDENRE (EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING) by Gábor Reisz.

In present-day Budapest, a failed high school history exam turns into a veritable social crisis because a supposedly “leftist” teacher is suspected of having discriminated against a “patriotically” minded high school graduate. (...) An outstanding portrait of peoples’ false perceptions and exaggerated sensitivities in the middle of Europe.

“Casting a glance across our closest borders can give us a reflection of our own society,” says Viennale director Eva Sangiorgi. “We’re going to open the 61st Viennale with a film that is political and humanistic, tough and poetic. A film about our time, its young people, about social relations, and the ideals and hopes we cherish for the future. A film that concerns us all.”

The actress Lilla Kizlinger and producer Júlia Berkes will be present at the screening.

On October 19,  MAGYARÁZAT MINDENRE will be shown not only at the opening gala in the Gartenbaukino, but also at the Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, the Metro Kinokulturhaus, and the Urania cinemas.

And as part of our festival’s traditional closing gala, to be held on October 31, the Viennale will screen the French film YANNICK by Quentin Dupieux.

A moderately interesting chamber play is being performed at the theater. All of a sudden, Yannick erupts from his seat in the audience, and his wild anger about the abominable play and the ensemble breaks through. What follows is a racy and witty eulogy about the sense and nonsense of (petty) bourgeois cultural enjoyment. (...) A film like a peppery praline: full-bodied, compact, and insanely good!

“Quentin Dupieux is a filmmaker who manages, as few do, to interrogate the inconsistencies and contradictions of a system, always in a surprising, witty and funny way,” says Eva Sangiorgi. “And what could be more fitting than to close the festival with acumen, self-criticism, and humor?”

In addition to the screening at the closing gala at Gartenbaukino, YANNICK will also be shown at the Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, Metro Kinokulturhaus, and Urania theaters.