Each year, the Viennale carefully selects a number of significant works from international film history that have recently been restored and which offer surprising discoveries for many people; films from different countries and contexts, each of which, in their own way, encapsulates the significance of the art of film throughout the ages. Through this section, we also hope to draw attention to the value of the archives and the importance of their work in preserving historical memory through cinema.
This year, we present AMMA ARIYAN (Report to Mother) by John Abraham, a political road movie through Kerala in turmoil, financed by small donations that were collected from village to village, and was the last film made by the director, who died in 1987 at the age of only 49; KUROI JUNIN NO ONNA (Ten Dark Women) by Ichikawa Kon, a black comedy, which turns into a feminist conspiracy; LA DÉRIVE, the only feature film by Paula Delsol, a rare female voice of the Nouvelle Vague, long forgotten and recently restored by La Cinémathèque française; and, in two programs, the films by Artavazd Pelechian, who was described by Serge Daney as “a missing link in the true history of the cinema.”
