Historical Special FINALE

W O W (Kodak), Viktoria Schmid © sixpackfilm

The Diagonale is pleased to announce two special programs that can be seen in March at the Festival of Austrian Film. The first historical special is titled FINALE and comprises five programs that have been selected together with the Filmarchiv Austria and the Austrian Film Museum as well as in cooperation with the ORF Archive. SYNEMA – Gesellschaft für Film und Medien and Diagonale dedicate the second historical special to the filmmaker, critic, and author Bernhard Frankfurter (1946–1999).

There’s no denying that the present has a certain tendency for the finale – the final escalation. But what about the finale in a film culture like the Austrian one, with its affinity for the abysmal, ambiguous, and fatal? This year’s historical special FINALE leads from the western theme park through the zombie apocalypse to the world soccer championships 1998 in France. On the festival playing team: directors such as Florian Flicker, Michael Glawogger, Jörg Kalt, Käthe Kratz, Marvin Kren, Georg Lhotsky, Sabine Marte, Andreas Prochaska, Viktoria Schmid, and Brigitte Weich.

The historical specials FINALE and Aktion! Action! can be seen from March 22 to 26 at the Diagonale’23 in Graz and offer a rare opportunity to view works, some of which have been specially digitized and restored, from the national film archives away from the capital.

No Name City © Filmladen

FINALE
Chapter I “Showdown”
— Das finstere Tal (D: Andreas Prochaska, AT 2014)
— No Name City (D: Florian Flicker, Georg Misch, AT 2002)
— W O W (Kodak) (D: Viktoria Schmid, AT 2018)
Chapter II “The End of Our Era”
— Rammbock (D: Marvin Kren, DE 2010)
— Richtung Zukunft durch die Nacht (D: Jörg Kalt, AT 2002)
Chapter III “Endgame”
— Frankreich, wir kommen! (D: Michael Glawogger, AT 1999)
— Finale (D: Sabine Marte, AT 2007)
— Hana, dul, sed … (D: Brigitte Weich, AT 2009)
Chapter IV “Turning Point”
— Moos auf den Steinen (D: Georg Lhotsky, AT 1968)
Chapter V “Final Generation”
— ATEMNOT (D: Käthe Kratz, AT 1984)
Supplemented with finds from the ORF Archive