VIENNA FILM AWARD
The Vienna Film Award, established by the City of Vienna and presented in the framework of the Viennale, honors a recent Austrian feature film that premiered within the past year. The award includes a monetary prize provided by the City of Vienna’s Cultural Department, as well as financial support from the Hotel The Harmonie Vienna. In addition to the award for Best Austrian Film, the Vienna Film Award Jury also presents a Special Jury Prize.
Jury of the Vienna Film Award
This year’s Vienna Film Award jury once again brings together prominent figures: Michelle Cotton, Artistic Director of Kunsthalle Wien; Felix Hoffmann, Artistic Director of FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, FOTO WIEN, and Co-Director of Vienna Digital Cultures; and Pia Reiser, film journalist at Radio FM4.
FIPRESCI PRIZE
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2025. On this occasion, we are once again pleased to welcome a three-member international jury from its ranks, which will award the FIPRESCI Prize to a first or second feature film by an emerging filmmaker from the Viennale program. We also congratulate the association with special mentions across various Viennale print and digital channels and celebrate this milestone with a dedicated special event.
DER STANDARD – VIENNALE – AUDIENCE AWARD
DER STANDARD once again organizes the Audience Jury Prize this year. The jurors select a film from the festival lineup that has not yet secured Austrian distribution. Should the awarded film later obtain a local distributor, DER STANDARD supports its release with complimentary advertising space in the newspaper.
ERSTE BANK FILM AWARD – Vermehrt Schönes!
For the 22nd consecutive year, Erste Bank serves as the Viennale’s main sponsor and, for the 15th time, presents the Erste Bank Film Award, which it initiated and funds. The prize focuses on the recognition and support of Austrian filmmaking: recipients are selected from among the Austrian film productions presented at the Viennale by an independent jury. The Erste Bank Film Award offers the winners a residency in New York, including a presentation of their work at the renowned Anthology Film Archives.
This year’s jury consists of cultural manager Silvia Bohrn, Anthology Film Archives curator Jed Rapfogel, curator and philosopher Boris Manner, and comic artist Nicolas Mahler, Artistic Director of the School for Poetry.
The realization of the Erste Bank Film Award is a collaboration between the Viennale, the Deutsches Haus at NYU, the Anthology Film Archives, and Erste Bank’s cultural sponsorship program Vermehrt Schönes!
