Festival Archive Guests

In 2025, the Viennale was once again delighted to welcome a large number of both international and national guests.

Naturally, the big names drew special attention, world film stars who share one thing in common: genuine love for cinema. It is therefore no surprise that Juliette Binoche, John C. Reilly and Willem Dafoe thoroughly enjoyed their stay in Vienna and their Viennale screenings, appreciating the festival for its passion for film and cinephile audience – and expressing this as well.

A very special, charged highlight was, therefore, the premiere of THE SOUFFLEUR with Willem Dafoe in attendance, who shot this film in Vienna a year ago with director Gastón Solnicki – with the Hotel Intercontinental as a central protagonist. Dafoe also took the opportunity to make an unannounced appearance at LATE FAME by Kent Jones, joining the Q&A after the screening.

Many other major figures of world cinema honored us this year and presented their films personally in Vienna. Mascha Schilinski, whose extraordinary film IN DIE SONNE SCHAUEN, among other awards, was honored in Cannes and submitted for Germany in the Oscars, came to Vienna as did German directing icon Edgar Reitz with the current film LEIBNIZ – CHRONIK EINES VERSCHOLLENEN BILDES – with outstanding actors Aenne Schwarz and Viennale fan Lars Eidinger, who once again did not miss the chance to rock one of the festival parties as DJ.

While Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello with his new film DUSE, which raises pressing questions about the relationship between art and politics, created another cinematic highlight, the outstanding Argentine director Lucrecia Martel thrilled audiences and press with her first documentary NUESTRA TIERRA, in which she explores Argentina’s colonial legacy, and an exciting, detailed talk about screenwriting at the Metro Kino Salon. This, like the other two talks held there, was fully booked. No wonder: on the one hand, filmmakers Eva Neymann, Olga Kosanović and Lisa Polster discussed cinematic forms of resistance with Andrea Ernst; on the other, one of the most outstanding directors of current genre cinema could be experienced live in conversation: Julia Ducournau, who presented her current film ALPHA in Vienna.

Find an overview of all V'25 Guests here!

And again, this year's Viennale was also able to welcome many great guests who presented their films, including Mohammad Rasoulof, Liv Lisa Fries and Joshua Oppenheimer, as well as Nele Wohlatz, Bruno Dumont, Radu Jude, Alain Guiraudie, Roberto Minervini, Bernard Eisenschitz, Miguel Gomes, Luca Guadagnino, Florentina Holzinger, Romuald Karmakar, Rusudan Glurjidze, Denis Lavant, Tsai Ming-liang, Albrecht Schuch and many more. 

Find an overview of all V'24 guests HERE!

The Viennale was again able to welcome many great guests who presented their films this year, including Christian Petzold, Bertrand Bonello, Catherine Breillat, Jennifer Reeder, Lisandro Alonso, Angela Schanelec, Radu Jude, Lav Diaz, Pedro Costa, Claire Simon and many more.

The Viennale again welcomed many great guests who presented their films at this year’s festival. These included Joanna Hogg, Lav Diaz, Albert Serra, Eric Baudelaire, Peter Strickland, Hong Sangsoo, Mathieu Amalric and Lars Eidinger, who also acted as DJ one night and had the Viennale Club shaking.

 

A touch of Hollywood touched Vienna and the Viennale with the presence of actor Matt Dillon, who, together with artist Shirin Neshat, presented their new film LAND OF DREAMS in the Gartenbaukino, which of course generated particularly great media interest.

In addition, this year the Viennale welcomed an exceptionally large number of great guests who presented their films - the same number as in 2019, for example, when the festival lasted three days longer - including Mia Hansen-Løve, Andrea Arnold, Mathieu Amalric, Sean Baker, Bruno Dumont, Nadav Lapid, Maria Speth and Abel Ferrara. At 140 of 250 screenings during the Viennale, our film guests answered questions from the moderators and the audience.

A total of 120 stage talks with artists took place in the cinemas, about ten of them online to also connect us with Eliza Hittman, Kelly Reichardt, John Gianvito and Gianfranco Rosi, among others, who weren’t able to attend in person.

The presence of directors, producers and authors enlivened the auditoriums, and audiences reacted extremely benevolently, streaming into the cinemas in large numbers.

 

Many authors were happy to interact in a common space, including Jasmila Žbanić, Abel Ferrara and Radu Jude, and Želimir Žilnik, to whom we dedicated one of our Cinematography programs, and who also presented an exhibition of his works in Vienna’s Kunsthalle during the festival period.

This year, the Viennale welcomed a total of 180 directors and actors, who came to Vienna to personally present their films at the festival.

International media representatives who covered the Viennale 2018 included journalists from der Tagesspiegel, Der Spiegel, die TAZ, Libération, France24 TV, Expresso (P), NRC Handelsblad (NL), BBC World, La diaria (E), Brecha (E), Oslobodjenje sowie Fach und Branchenmedien wie Cahiers du cinéma (F), Sight & Sound (GB), Film Comment (USA), Cinemascope (KAN), Filmmaker Magazine (USA), Trafic (F), Cineuropa, mubi.com (USA), Blickpunkt:Film (D), kinozeit.de (D), artechock.de (D), critic.de (D), epd Film (D), Cargo (D), Freitag (D), Positif (F), Ekran (SLO), Cinephilia (GR), otroscines.com (ARG), La vida útil (ARG), Canal Once (MEX), Cinética (BRA), Scena9 (RO), colta.ru (RUS), Senses of cinema (AUS), De filmkrant (NL).

Furthermore, we welcomed representatives of the Berlinale and the film festivals in Locarno, Rotterdam, Marseille, Lissabon, Leipzig, München, Karlovy Vary, Montevideo, Dresden, Warschau, Jeonju City among many others.

A total of about 650 media and industry representatives were accredited at the Viennale 2019.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at the 2020 festival.

 

This year, the Viennale welcomed a total of 170 directors and actors, who came to Vienna to personally present their films at the festival.

International media representatives who covered the Viennale 2018 included journalists from Tagesspiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde, Canal Plus, France24 TV, RAI, Expresso, Politika, Monitor, BBC World, Cumhuriyet, Arka Pencere, Oslobodjenje. In addition, a large number of representatives from international specialist and industry publications attended the festival, including Cahiers du cinéma (F), Sight & Sound (GB), Film Comment (USA), Cinemascope (KAN), Cineuropa, mubi.com (USA), Blickpunkt:Film (D), Filmdienst (D), kinozeit.de (D), artechock.de (D), critic.de (D), epd Film (D), Cargo (D), Freitag (D), Positif (F), filmidee.it (I), Ekran (SLO), Cinephilia (GR), Altyazi (TUR), otroscines.com (ARG), Canal Once (MEX), Arterritory.com (RUS), Senses of cinema (AUS). Furthermore, we welcomed representatives of the Berlinale and the film festivals in Locarno, Lissabon, Rotterdam, Toronto, Marseille, Mar del Plata, Mexiko City, Oberhausen, London, Leipzig, Munich, Dresden, Prag, Warschau, Seoul, Jeonju City, Pingyao, Teheran, Tate Modern London and ICA London, among many others.

A total of about 600 media and industry representatives were accredited at the Viennale 2018.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at the 2018 festival.

 

This year, the Viennale welcomed a total of 130 directors and actors, who came to Vienna to personally present their films at the festival.

International media representatives who covered the Viennale 2017 included journalists from Le Monde, Libération, France24 TV (France), Süddeutsche Zeitung, Deutschlandradio Kultur (Germany), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), Expresso (Portugal), Il Messaggero (Italy), Ethnos, Ta Nea (Greece), Politika (Serbia), Monitor (Croatia), BBC World (UK). In addition, a large number of representatives from international specialist and industry publications attended the festival, including Cahiers du cinéma, Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Cinemascope, De Filmkrant, 4:3, Cineuropa, Cinepur, mubi.com, theartsdesk.com, kinozeit.de, critic.de, artechock.de, mediacritica.it, Filmögon, Ekran, Film International, Cinephilia, Altyazi, and twitchfilm.com. Furthermore, we welcomed representatives of the Berlinale and the film festivals in Locarno, Lisbon, Rotterdam, Toronto, Mar del Plata, Mexico City, Oberhausen, Munich, Prague, Warsaw, Seoul, Jeonju City, and Pingyao, among many others.

A total of about 650 media and industry representatives were accredited at the Viennale 2017.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at the 2018 festival.

This year, the Viennale welcomed a total of 150 directors and actors, who came to Vienna to personally present their films at the festival.

International media representatives who covered the Viennale 2016 included journalists from Le Monde, Libération, Süddeutsche Zeitung, FAZ, taz, Tagesanzeiger, Ethnos, Milliyet, Al-Ahram, Deutschlandradio Kultur, France24 and BBC World, among others. In addition, a large number of representatives from international specialist and industry publications attended the festival, including Cahiers du Cinéma, Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Cinema Scope, Filmbulletin, Filmdienst, epd Film, cargo, IndieWire, mubi.com, kino-zeit.de, critic.de, artechock.de, otroscines.com, mediacritica.it, Filmögon, Ekran, Film International, Cinephilia, Altyazi and Kunst+Film. Furthermore, we welcomed representatives from the Berlinale and from the film festivals in Cannes, Locarno, Marseille, Lisbon, Oberhausen, Mexico City, Prague and Munich, among others.

A total of about 700 media and industry representatives were accredited at the Viennale 2016.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at the 2017 festival.

This year, the Viennale welcomed a total of 140 directors and actors, who came to Vienna to personally present their films at the festival.

International media representatives who covered the Viennale 2015 included journalists from Die Zeit, FAZ, Tagesspiegel, taz, Tagesanzeiger, Expresso, Ethnos, Ta Nea, Radikal, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Radio Eins and BBC World, among others.

As in previous years, a large number of representatives from international specialist and industry publications attended the festival. These included Cahiers de cinema, Sight & Sound, Filmbulletin, Filmdienst, epd Film, cargo, De Filmkrant, Indiewire.com, mubi.com, Senses of Cinema, kinozeit.de, Filmmaker Magazine, Cinemascope, Ekran, Les Inrockuptibles, Slant Magazine, Kino, Cinematograph and Kunst und Film.

A total of almost 700 media and industry representatives were accredited at the Viennale 2015.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at the 2016 festival.

A total of 150 directors found their way to Vienna to present their films at the festival.
Among others Tariq Teguia, to whom a focus program was dedicated, visited the Viennale 2014.
Els van Riel, representative for the SPECIAL: REVOLUTIONS IN 16MM as well as Deborah Stratman and Dorit Margreiter, directors, whose films screened within the context of the SPEIAL: BROKEN SEQUENCE were guests.
The opening gala took place in the presence of Jessica Hausner (AMOUR FOU) and her film crew.
Abel Ferrara honoured the audience of his most recent production PASOLINI with his presence.
PULP guitarist Jarvis Cocker came to Metrokino Kulturhaus on the last festival day and presented THE BIG MELT and PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH AND SUPERMARKETS himself.

Not only in the number of the audience (97,400) the Viennale 2013 sets a record, but also concerning movie guests: A total of 170 directors and actresses found their way to Vienna to present their films at the festival.
Above all, the protagonists of the tributes or special programs dedicated to them, visited the Viennale: Will Ferrell, Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo, John Torres and THE face of the Nouvelle Vague, Jean-Pierre Léaud (OUT 1 - NOLI ME TANGERE). Claude Lanzmann presented with LE DERNIER OF INJUSTES his most recent work, while the protagonist of WEEKEND OF A CHAMPION, Sir Jackie Stewart, took the audience back into the racing world of the 1970s.
Among many other were present: Denis Côté, Stéphanie Argerich, Roland Klick, Bruce LaBruce, Joshua Oppenheimer, Verena Paravel, Marie-Pierre Pruvot, Stephanie Spray und Marine Vacth.

Despite the last-minute cancellations by Werner Herzog and Isabelle Huppert, the Viennale was happy to welcome a large number of prominent guests in its jubilee year, among them Michael Caine, Marina Abramovic, Olivier Assayas, Patti Smith, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ingrid Caven, Thomas Vinterberg and Brillante Mendoza. In addition, international directors who have remained faithful to us over the years once again came to Vienna to personally present their new works. These included Miguel Gomes, James Benning, Bertrand Bonello, Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Hal Hartley and Pascal Bonitzer.

A total of 160 directors and actors were present at Viennale 2012.
 

As in previous years, we were once again able to welcome many important and exciting personalities of world cinema.

In addition to well-known names such as David Cronenberg, Nanni Moretti, Harry Belafonte, Jeremy Thomas, André Wilms and writer Ruth Klüger, some exciting new directors, including Valérie Massadian, Laura Citarella, Nadav Lapid and Alex Ross Perry accepted our invitation to come to Vienna for the festival. We were also happy to welcome - as in previous years - Bertrand Bonello, Stefano Savona, Mathieu Demy, Azazel Jacobs and Klaus Lemke as guests of the Viennale again in 2011.
A total of 120 directors and actors were present at the Viennale 2011.

A total of 122 directors and actors were present at the Viennale 2010. In addition to well-known names such as John Turturro, Olivier Assayas, Mike Leigh, Lou Reed and Cannes-winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, some exciting new directors, including Athina Tsangari and Rusudan Pirveli, accepted our invitation to come to Vienna for the festival. We were also happy to welcome Nina Menkes and Marco Bellocchio as well as Klaus Lemke and Rudolf Thome as guests of the Viennale 2010.

As in previous years, we were once again able to welcome many important personalities of world cinema. A total of 127 directors and actors were present at the Viennale 2009. In addition to the festival’s guest of honor, Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton, the French actresses Jane Birkin and Béatrice Dalle accepted the Viennale’s invitation to come to Vienna for the festival. Great individual filmmakers such as Pedro Costa, Michael Almereyda and Luc Moullet also presented their films in the course of the Viennale 2009.

Fifteen years after his father’s death, Romeo Carey appeared as guest of the Viennale in order to present the first extensive European tribute to Timothy Carey. We were also happy to welcome the Chinese filmmaker and author Guo Xiaolu. The Viennale was the first festival worldwide to present her oeuvre to date.

Festival guests, who personally present their works to audiences, have always contributed to shaping the special character of the Viennale. At this year’s festival we were once again able to welcome many important and exciting personalities of world cinema.

A total of 129 directors and actors were present at the Viennale 2008. Among those who came to present their works and attend public talks and other festival events were: Khavn, Aysun Bademsoy, Jean-Claude Rousseau, Jacques Doillon, Arnaud Desplechin, Christian Petzold, Kelly Reichardt, Luc Dardenne, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Joseph Strick and Murray Lerner.

Well-known musicians such as Garth Hudson and Vic Chesnutt were guests of the Viennale as well as the actresses Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Balibar, Amira Casar and Arta Dobroshi.
The filmmakers John Gianvito and Miguel Gomes, to whom the Viennale dedicated a special program each, also
accepted our invitation to come to Vienna for this occasion.

MIGUEL GOMES
Born in 1972, in Lisbon, Portugal. Studied Cinema at Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (ESTC). Worked as a film critic in the Portuguese press and published several articles related to the theory of Cinema. In 2004 he shoots [/i]A Cara que Mereces[/i], his first feature length film. Films (selection): Entretanto (1999), Inventário de Natal (2000), 31 (2002), Kalkitos (2002).

ARNAUD DESPLECHIN
Born in 1960 in Roubix, France. In 1984 he graduates at the IDHEC in Paris. His films received several Awards. Films (selection): La Sentinelle (1992, Viennale 07), Comment je me suis disputé … (ma vie sexuelle) (1996), Esther Kahn (2000, Viennale 2000), Léo – en jouant «Dans la compagnie des hommes» (2003, Viennale 04), Rois et reine (2004, Viennale 04).

WERNER SCHROETER

Born at the very end of the Second World War in Germany, Werner Schroeter spent most of his childhood between Bielfield and Heidelberg. After leaving school, Schroeter enrolled at the University of Mannheim to study Psychology, but completed only three semesters. After abandoning his university studies, Schroeter worked intermittently as a freelance journalist before enrolling at the Film and Television School in Munich where he remained for only a few weeks. In late 1967, after having begun to make short experimental 8mm films. In 1978, Schroeter moved into the realm of the 35mm feature film with Regno di Napoli. Schroeter begins to develop much more complex narrative techniques and strategies and tends to move away from the largely episodic structures. As a result, distribution of his films becomes much more viable and his films begin to reach a much wider audience. The first of these, Regno di Napoli is constructed as a family chronicle and is played out in and around a poor neighbourhood in the southern Italian city of Naples between the years of 1943 and 1972. For the first time in his filmmaking career, Schroeter adopts a chronological narrative structure, more easily digestible by a wider audience, but without ever abandoning his very idiosyncratic artistic vision.

 

Seldom has the festival had more prominent and exciting personalities of world cinema as guests than at the V’07. A total of 130 directors, actors and other film guests came to the festival to present their works and attend public talks and other festival events.
Among them were:

JANE FONDA
Born as in December 1937 in New York as daughter of Henry Fonda and Frances Seymour Fonda. In 1968 international breakthrough for her role in Roger Vadim’s [film:2533]Barbarella[/i ] that makes her a very popular “sex symbol” of the decade.
In the late sixties Fonda is very committed to the Freedom’s Movement as well as to the Anti-Vietnam Movement. In 1972 she was awarded an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as the prostitute Bree Daniels in Klute. Fonda always lets influence her artistic work by her political and social engagement, for example in works such as THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?, THE CHINA SYNDROME or in the repatriate drama COMMING HOME, for which she was awarded her second Academy Award. In the eighties also starts her dedication to sports and wellness. By the mid-eighties the actress finally takes back from film business. In the nineties she focuses on social topics and supports different aid organizations. In 2005 her autobiography “My Life So Far” is released and becomes an international success. In 2005 Jane Fonda reappears on the screen with MONSTER IN LAW, 2007 her latest film GEORGIA RULE premiers.

SANDRINE BONNAIRE
Born in Gannat (France) in 1967. In 1983, she acted in A nos amours by Maurice Pialat. She made her breakthrough with a part in Agnès Varda’s Sans toit, ni loi (V’ retrospective 2006). Today, she is one of the best known and most popular French actresses. Elle s’appelle Sabine is her director’s debut.

MORITZ BLEIBTREU
Born in Munich in 1971, Moritz Bleibtreu is one of Germany's most popular actors. The son of Hans Brenner and the actress Monika Bleibtreu, he trained as an actor and premiered at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus.
Films (selection): Knocking on Heaven’s Door[/I] (D 1996), [i]Lola rennt (D 1997), Das Experiment (D 2001), Elementarteilchen (D 2006), Free Rainer (V’07).

TODD HAYNES
Todd Haynes attended Brown University and majored in arts and semiotics. After graduation he moved to New York City and made the very controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (USA 1998). The movie uses dolls instead of actors to tell the story of the late Karen Carpenter. His first feature, Poison (USA 1991), won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Films: Safe (V’95), Velvet Goldmine (UK/USA 1998, V’98), Far From Heaven (F/USA 2002, V’02) and I’m Not There (USA 2007)

 

WEITERE GÄSTE

Two-time Oscar winner Haskell Wexler, actress Nina Hoss, Jean-Pierre Gorin (the curator of the retrospective 2007), director of photography Ed Lachmann as well as a number of outstanding directors, including Masahiro Kabayashi, Hal Hartley, Nicolas Klotz, Tom Kalin, Nicolas Philibert, Chrisitan Petzold and Jem Cohen were guests at the Viennale 2007. The filmmakers Stephanie Rothman, Nina Menkes and Pascale Ferran, to whom the Viennale dedicated a Special Program each, also accepted our invitation to come to Vienna on this occasion.
Of no less importance for the festival in particular and cinema in general was the presence of such renowned author-filmmakers as Peter Hutton, Heinz Emigholz, Su Friedrich, Harun Farocki, Jean-Claude Rousseau, Peter Nestler and Thom Andersen, many of whom are regular visitors to and guests of the annual Viennale film festival.

 

119 film makers and actors visited the VIENNALE 2006; presenting their screenings followed by a Q&A. Among them were:

KENNETH ANGER
Kenneth Anger, born 1927, began making films around age 11, but his early films were mostly destroyed. His first film to see distribution was Fireworks, filmed in Los Angeles in 1947. Most of his films are short subject (ranging from 3.5 minutes to 30 minutes) mood pieces.
During the late 60's he associated with The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and convicted first degree murderer Bobby Beausoleil of the Charles Manson gang who starred in Anger's 1969 film Invocation Of My Demon Brother which was soundtracked by Mick Jagger on Moog synthesizer.
Further films (selection): Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat (1941), Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954, recut in 1966), Scorpio Rising (1963), Rabbit's Moon (1972) The Man We Want to Hang (2002).

JULIE DEPARDIEU
Born in 1973, daughter of Gérard and Elisabeth Depardieu. Studied Philosophy, first experiences with film. Was discovered as upcoming actress in Le Colonel Chabert (1994). Breakthrough in 1998 with Danièle Dubroux' L'Examen de minuit. Become established in the young French cinema due to appearances in films by Olivier Assayas, Laetitia Masson and Cédric Klapisch. The year 2004 marked an important turn in her career: Depardieu is awarded two Césars, for the best supporting actress and the most important hope. Furthermore her comical talent is discovered, which she is to prove as well in Toi et moi (2005).
Films (selection): Poltergay (2006), La Faute à Fidel (2006), Essaye-moi (2006), Un fil à la patte (2005), Le Passager (2005), La Mémoire des autres (2005), Sauf le respect que je vous dois (2005).

HIROKI RYUICHI
Born in 1954 in Kohriyama. Starts his film career as Nakamura Genji’s directing assistant and soon dedicates himself to the production of pink films. In 1982 he realizes the internationally successful erotic film Catch the Woman Out. He gains himself worldwide reputation during the 80s and is today one of the most productive and well-known Japanese filmmakers.
Films (selection): Gigolo (1991), Sadistic City (1993), 800 Two Lap Runner (1994), Midori (1996), Tokyo Trash Baby (2000)

VIVA
Viva was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in 1938 in Syracuse, NY. Actress, writer and former Warhol superstar. Conservative, catholic background. Was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film with him. She appeared in several of Warhol's films and was a frequent guest at The Factory. After Viva began making films for other directors she also began writing. Her first book, Superstar, was an insider’s look at the Factory scene, a partly fictional autobiographical account of her time there. With her husband Michel Auder, she was one of the early pioneers in video art. She lives in Malibu, California, where she paints landscapes.
Films (selection): Bike Boy (Warhol 1967, VIENNALE 05), Blue Movie (Warhol 1969, VIENNALE 05), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lions Love (1969), Play It Again, Sam (1972), The State of the Things (1982), Paris, Texas (1984).

 

PETER WHITEHEAD

Whitehead was born in 1937 in Liverpool. After studying physics and crystallography at Cambridge University he won a scholarship to the Slade School of Art as a painter. Instead of painting, he chose the medium of film.
Between 1965 and 1969 Whitehead made five movies, beginning with the documentary that effectively launched his film career: Wholly Communion, about an historic counter-cultural event in the Royal Albert Hall on June 11, 1965 where an audience of 7,000 witnessed the first meeting of American and English Beat poets.
It was on the basis of this film that Whitehead was approached by the manager of the Rolling Stones to film the group on tour in Dublin and Belfast. Charlie is my Darling was the outcome. And it was the subsequent promo films he made for the Stones that mark the real birth of the "music video".
In the late 1970s Whitehead gave up film-making. He took up falconry. He has also written several works of fiction.
Films (selection): The Perception of Life (1964), Charly Is My Darling: The Rolling Stones on Tour (1965), Tonite Let’s All Make in London (1967), The Fall (1969), Fire In the Water (1977).

All in all, 95 film guests visited the VIENNALE 2005 who attended their films' screenings and were available for Q&A to the festival audience. A small selection:

JANE BIRKIN
The festival's star guest attended the gala screening of her film "Dust" and enchanted the audience with live concert at the Volkstheater.
Jane Birkin was born in London on December 14th, 1946. As a miniskirted Chelsea girl, Jane embraced the pop excitement of "Swinging London". Following in her mother's footsteps, she made her acting debut at seventeen. With nineteen she married composer John Barry, author of the James Bond 007 theme. After a first movie experience in Richard Lester's “The Knack”, she was hired by Michelangelo Antonioni who was shooting “Blow Up”, which later received the Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes international film festival. Her brief scene, where she appeared naked, created controversy and was the talk of London.
After the failure of marrying too young and the birth of her daughter Kate in 1967, she decided to move to France. Recruited by French filmmaker Pierre Grimblat to star in his movie “Slogan”, she met and subsequently fell in love with her costar Serge Gainsbourg, a popular singer and musician. A fashionable couple on the Paris scene, they made the headlines in 1969 with a artfully disturbing song, “Je t'aime moi non plus”.
In 1981, she left Gainsbourg to live with the French director Jacques Doillon.
Jane Birkin's film career includes almost 100 films by directors like Bertrand Tavernier, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Rivette, playing besides collegues like Romy Schneider, Geraldine Chaplin, Dirk Bogarde, and Peter Ustinov.

DANNY GLOVER
Danny Glover attended the screening of Lars van Trier's new film "Manderlay" in which he plays a side role.
Glover was born on July 22 1946 in San Francisco. After graduating from San Francisco State College he worked as a teacher at the American Conservatory Theatre, where he also took part in a workshop for black actors. He had his first appearance in Don Siegel's Escape from Alcatraz (1979) with Clint Eastwood. In the following years he appeared in a number of less outstanding TV-productions, and also a few movies. His filmography of that time contains Spielberg's The Colour Purple (1985), Peter Weir's Witness (1984), and Lawrence Kasdan's western Silverado (1985). With the big box office hit Leathal Weapon by Richard Donner, Glover reached star status in 1987. Further films (selection): Beloved (Jonathan Demme, 1998), Freedom Song (Phil Alden Robinson, 2000), The Royal Tennenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001), and Saw (James Wan, 2004).

STANLEY KWAN

Stanley Kwan presented his film Changhen ge (China/Hongkong 2005) und Yuen ling-yuk (Hongkong 1991/2005).
He was born in Hong Kong in 1957. Studied Mass Communications Science at Hong Kong’s Baptist College, before working in various positions in television. An assistant director from the early 1980s, he made his directing debut with Women in 1985. His third movie, Rouge, won him international reputation in 1988. Further films (selection): Red Rose, White Rose (1995), Yang +/– Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (1996, VIENNALE 96), Still Love You After All (1997).

GERARD MALANGA
The Viennale screened a number of Malanga's film works in connection to the Andy Warhol Retrospective as well as presented a selection of his photographic portraits in an exhibition.
Gerard Malanga, poet, photographer, filmmaker, was born in 1943 and raised in the Bronx, New York, the only child of Italian immigrant parents. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry spanning a nearly 40-year period. He was a major influence on many of the paintings and films in Andy Warhol’s studio, known as the Factory. The "New York Times" called him "Warhol’s most important associate". Besides starring in several Warhol films, he and Andy Warhol collaborated on the nearly 500 individual 3-minute Screen Tests which resulted in a selection for a book of the same name, published by Kulchur Press in 1967. In 1969, he and Warhol founded "Inter/VIEW" magazine.

PEDRO COSTA
The Viennale 2005 dedicated a Special Program to the Portuguese filmmaker.
Pedro Costa was born in Lisbon in 1959 He studied film directing and editing at the Lisbon Film School and first worked as assistant director for various Portuguese film productions. At the age of 30, he shot his first feature film, O sangue (1990), a dark family history. With his current cinematic work of three feature films and two documentaries, he ranks among the most radical and obstinate filmmakers of his generation.

 

The VIENNALE proudly welcomed 78 film makers and actors presenting their screenings followed by a Q&A. Among them were:

LAUREN BACALL

Following the advice of his wife, who had seen Bacall’s photo on the cover of the “Harper’s Bazar”, Howard Hawks casts her for To Have and Have Not. Bacall and her co-star Humphrey Bogart fall in love at this occasion and get married in 1945 - a dream couple attracting crowds of cinema-goers. After Confidential Agent, Bacall and Bogart play in The Big Sleep, Dark Passage and Key Largo. In 1953, she appears in her first successful comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable. Yet, she also convincingly performs in the melodramas The Cobweb by Vincente Minelli and Written On the Wind by Douglas Sirk. In January 1957, shortly after the shooting to Designing Woman has been completed, Humphrey Bogart dies.
After a big Broadway-Carreer and a break of several years she plays in Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996, bringing her the Golden Globe for best supporting actress. However sporadically, she is continuously seen on screen, for instance in Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-Porter or last in Lars von Trier’s Dogville and Jonathan Glazer’s Birth.
 

OLIVIER ASSAYAS
Despite their autonomy, Assayas’ films follow the Nouvelle Vague tradition. Instead of gearing themselves to Hollywood, the films relate to the French father generation and Asian cinema. Searching for a common denominator of Assayas’ films, one might come up with terms like sincerity or implacability. His figures’ problems carrying the burden of the author’s self-exploration are basically always existential. HANNELORE ELSNER

In the Seventies Hannelore Elsner became the main protagonist in German author films. In the Eighties, after the birth of her son, she acted in many popular TV series. Elsner has received numerous prizes for her work in TV.
In 1999 she played the role of the disillusioned writer Hanna Flanders/Gisela Elsner in Die Unberührbare, directed by Oskar Roehler, and received numerous prizes and international acclaim for her powerful performance.

JEAN-PIERRE GORIN

The Viennale was dedicating one of its Special Programs to the French filmmaker and theorist Jean-Pierre Gorin.
Gorin was part-publisher of the “Le Monde” literature supplement. His articles influenced the political and aesthetical discussions of the late Sixties. In 1965 Gorin met Jean-Luc Godard. Together they founded the Groupe Dziga Vertov, and co-directed some of the most influential works of political cinema in France: "Lotte in Italia" (1969), "Vladimir et Rosa" (1971), "Tout va bien" (1972) and "Letter to Jane" (1972).
In 1975 Gorin was invited to the University of California in San Diego, where today he still maintains a teaching position.

HUBERT SAUPER

Sauper was born in Kitzbühel, Tyrol, in 1966. He has lived in Great Britain, Italy and the US. He studied film direction at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and at the University Paris VIII. Sauper also acted in various short films and two feature films.
Sauper teaches film in Europe and the US. His 1997 film Kisangani Diary won numerous prizes.
One year after its screening at the VIENNALE his docuementary Darwin's Nightmare won the European Film Prize and was nominated for an Oscar.

The VIENNALE proudly welcomed film makers and actors presenting their screenings followed by a Q&A. Among them were:...
 

SOFIA COPPOLA
The screening of the opening Film of the VIENNALE 2003 "Lost in Translation" was shown in presence of the director, Sofia Coppola. After her terrific debut, "The Virgin Suicides", her critically acclaimed second movie was very well recieved by the audience.

VALERIA BRUNI-TEDESCHI

We have seen Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi appearing in more than 30 films since the mid-eighties. Right after her acting education at the Théatre des Amandiers, this Italian-French actress (°1964, Torino) played in Patrice Chèreau´s Herz/Coeur. With Hotel De France (1987, Patrice Chèreau) and Oublie-moi (1995, Noemi Lvosvsky) she also played herself into the hearts of critics and audience.
At the Viennale 2003 Bruni-Tedeschi presented her debut film "Il est plus facile pour un chameau". This pretty much auto-biographical story about an over-priviliged Italian industrial´s daughter in France recieved many prizes.

RITHY PANH

Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, born in 1964 in Phnom Penh, currently lives in France. After four years at Khmer Rouge rehabilitation camps, Panh escaped to Thailand in 1979. In 1980 he arrived in Paris where he ultimately graduated from the French National Cinema School. His documentaries (among others “Site II”, “Land of Wandering Souls”) have been awarded numerous awards. The VIENNALE 2003 showed his latest work “S21, La Machine de Mord Khmère Rouge” which brought him back to the scenes of the 1970-genocide.

 

YOKO ONO
Born in 1933 in Tokyo and now based in New York, the artist has produced works that reveal a strong movement in both cinematic and mediumistic styles.
Avant-garde and performance artist Yoko Ono’s oeuvre, albeit hardly known in Austria, covers a wide range of artistic forms, from performance to film, photography, music and installation.
The Viennale presented an exhibition, which was the first solo show of the artist's work in Austria. Yoko Ono visited Vienna to open the exhibition. The Viennale also showed the film Rape, produced by the ORF in 1969, which represented a high point in the joint oeuvre of Yoko Ono and John Lennon.

AGNÈS VARDA
Agnés Varda visited the Viennale for the the world premiere of “Deux ans après”. At the screenings at the Gartenbaukino she also explained, why she had made the film:
The reactions to her film “Les glaneurs et la glaneuse” were so strong that Vardas decided to make a second film about its aftereffects. The theme was her impressions of the various reactions to her film, her response to the tons of mail she received, and how she met other collectors.

 

ED LACHMAN

The Viennale 2002 included a tribute to charismatic cameraman Ed Lachman. During an audience discussion after screening of one of his latest films, Far from Heaven, Lachman greeted the audience in the sold-out Gartenbaukino theater in German, then continued in English: “You have to know, I always carry a piece of Austria with me.” Lachman prefers to work with the cameras of the Austrian manufacturer moviecam.
In addition to Lachman’s major camera work, the Viennale will also presented his first full-length film, Ken Park , which he co-directed with Larry Clark.
Lachman, who rested in Vienna for the entire festival, has been available for a number of audience discussions.

All in all, 79 guests were invited to join the screening of 52 films. Among them were the Tribute guests Fay Wray and Peter Nestler, as well as photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING
Another star at the Viennale 2001 was Charlotte Rampling. Having featured in films such as Richard Lester’s „The Knack“, Luchino Visconti’s „La caduta degli dei“, and Liliana Cavani’s „The Night Porter“ (which was shot in Vienna. She was in Vienna together with French director François Ozon, to present the film „Sous les sable“ the story of a desperate woman, who, unable to overcome her grief for her husband, flees into a world of make-believe. After the premiere of the film, there was a public talk with Ms. Rampling and Mr. Ozon.

JONAS MEKAS
Legendary American avantgarde filmmaker and founder of the Anthology Film Archive Jonas Mekas was one of the special guests of the Viennale. He also created the two wonderful trailers of this year's festival.
FAY WRAY

This year's honorary guest was the silent film diva and Hollywood legend Mrs. Fay Wray. Coined as the most touching and also historic event of the Viennale 2001 (Claus Philipp, Der Standard) Mrs.Wray was present at the gala screening of Erich von Stroheim’s master piece from 1928 THE WEDDING MARCH. It is in the role of Mitzi that she landed her first big part in movies and subsequently became a star. Fay Wray finally got to see the sites that were so elaborately and authentically reconstructed on the Hollywood set of Von Stroheim’s epic film herself.