| Diagonale | 2024 | Review |

Opening Night Diagonale ’24 at the Helmut List Halle © Clara Wildberger

“The last few days have been days full of great encounters – our idea of the festival, at first still abstract, has suddenly become vivid and filled with life. The joy of coming into the cinema, seeing the Diagonale trailer and the signation, and then experiencing the moment when the first images and sounds of a film appear on the big screen, was electrifying right up to the last day of the festival. The Diagonale Forum in the Heimatsaal in the Volkskundemuseum as a new meeting place fulfilled all our expectations – highly political, film-culturally relevant debates were on the agenda. The cinemas were very well attended, even in the early summer weather. Our many guests contributed to the lively, sometimes euphoric atmosphere during the festival. We would like to thank our competent and passionate team, who worked with us to make the festival a reality once again, and all the filmmakers, producers and distributors who have entrusted Diagonale with their films in 2024!” Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar, Festival Directors

The Festival once again proved that it is a fixture of the Graz cultural scene and, of course, the Austrian film and culture industry. Traditionally, spring arrives in Graz with the Diagonale, but by the time of the last festival, summer had already arrived with temperatures just below 30 degrees, which further boosted the opportunities for networking within the industry, not least at the new festival venue in the Heimatsaal. The opening of Diagonale ’24 took place on Thursday, April 4, in the Helmut List Halle. The Austrian premiere of Ruth Beckermann‘s documentary Favoriten was attended by the film’s protagonist, Ilkay Idiskut, who received standing ovations, as well as the film team in Graz. The opening evening of the first Diagonale under the new directorship of Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar was hosted by Hilde Dalik, who finally cracked the recipe for a successful Austrian film with a charming and humorous case study. As part of the opening, the Grand Diagonale Acting Award 2024 for extraordinary services to Austrian film culture was presented to Lukas Miko. The laudatory speech for the “extraordinary character actor”, who also celebrated his 53 birthday on the opening day, was held by acting jury members Zeynep Buyraç and Goran Rebić; the prize was designed by Wiener Times.

A veritable Prize Marathon

The centrepiece of the last festival edition was once again the film competition with 123 films, ranging from established filmmakers to new discoveries. As usual, fiction, documentary and innovative films of various lengths were presented – 84 productions celebrated their world or Austrian premieres on the Graz cinema screens as part of the festival. In the presence of Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport Werner Kogler, Provincial Councillor of Styria Barbara Eibinger-Miedl and City Councillor for Culture Günter Riegler, the award ceremony took place on April 8 at the Orpheum in Graz. First and foremost, the Grand Diagonale Awards of the Province of Styria for the Best Feature Film (to Martha Mechow for Die ängstliche Vekehrsteilnehmerin) and the Best Documentary Film (to Helin Çelik for Anqa) as well as the Diagonale Award for Innovative Cinema of the City of Graz (to Simona Obholzer for DIN 18035). The Diagonale Acting Awards for remarkable performances in a competition film in cooperation with VdFS went to Birgit Minichmayr for Sleeping with a Tiger and Voodoo Jürgens for Rickerl – Musik is höchstens a Hobby. The evening was hosted by Marina Lacković, accompanied by musical act EsRap. An overview of the award winners and donors, including the jury’s statements and images from the award ceremony, can be found here.

The Franz Grabner Prize (Best Cinema Documentary Wer hat Angst vor Braunau? Ein Haus und die Vergangenheit in uns by Günter Schwaiger) and the Kodak Analogue Film Prize on the Saturday of the festival, which went to Martin Gschlacht for Des Teufels Bad as an honorary prize and to Bernhard Hetzenauer for Those Next to Us as a non-cash prize. On Monday morning, also in the presence of Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, the Carl Mayer Screenwriting Awards (main prize to Vivian Bausch and Fabian Rausch for the treatment of Soldat) and the Thomas Pluch Screenwriting Awards (main prize to Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala for Des Teufels Bad) were presented, and on Tuesday evening the Kleine Zeitung Audience Award, which went to Caravan by Lucy Asthon.

Film specials of the Diagonale ’24:
A total of 195 film productions were shown in the extensive programme of Diagonale ’24.

| Position | Christoph Hochhäusler |
A comprehensive retrospective was dedicated to the fascinating German filmmaker, including a Revolver Live! guest performance in Graz with exceptional cinematographer Jürgen Jürges.

| Position | Lisl Ponger |
In addition to the cinematic work of the Austrian artist, Lisl Ponger received a Carte Blanche and organised an exhibition at Schaumbad – Freies Atelierhaus Graz.

| Film History | Die erste Schicht / The First Shift |
60 years of labour migration from the perspective of the countries of origin – film history special in eight programmes with positions by filmmakers from the countries of origin themselves.

| Film History | 3x Girls in Uniform |
Film history special by SYNEMA on Leontine Sagan, Christa Winsloe and a film classic with consequences.

With the support of the festival’s main sponsor, Steiermärkische Sparkasse, in-depth talks and discussions took place after individual screenings under the title Nachspann – for cinema that goes beyond the screen, with Ruth Beckermann, Kat Rohrer, Christoph Hochhäusler, Pia Hierzegger, Michael Ostrowski and Helmut Köpping, among others.

The festival’s industry meeting, the Film Meeting, was dedicated to topics such as health and social sustainability, artificial intelligence, diversity and anti-racism. The Forum in the Heimatsaal also hosted panels on film cooperation between Austria and Slovenia, the film history special The First Shift, the presentation of the new Gender Report including the Feminist Perspectives event and a special on Let’s talk about Scripts! with Daniel Hoesl.

Traditionally, the exhibition at Kunsthaus Graz was also closely linked to the festival: Eva Egermann and Cordola Thym, the artists of the Diagonale ’24 trailer, presented their exhibition C-TV: Close Encounters of the Hamster Kind there, while the Graz collective OchoReSotto was present at Kunsthalle Graz with its installation Unframed.   Street Cinema Graz went on a short film hike in the constantly changing Reininghaus district and the Cinema Next Breakfast Club invited visitors to an open exchange of experiences under the title Everything but feature film. At the end of the festival days, the audience could relax in the Diaognale Bar in the Volksgarten Pavilion – hosted by Eule – or dance the night away in the Diagonale Club at p.p.c. and other locations such as Café Wolf or the Kombüse.

The wonderful team once again made a significant contribution to the success of the festival in 2024 and deserve the greatest thanks!