The 6th Austrian Film Festival will take place from April 16 to 19 in Belgrade, Niš, and Novi Sad under the slogan “More than … / Mehr als …”, presenting seven contemporary Austrian feature and documentary films. Five of them will screen in Serbia for the very first time.
Opening the festival is Far from Lipizzaners, directed by Olga Kosanović, a witty and deeply personal documentary inspired by the filmmaker’s struggle to obtain Austrian citizenship after discovering she had spent two months too long outside the country. Through humor and sharp reflection, the film explores bureaucracy, belonging, and identity, while inviting others to share their own experiences of home and displacement.
Another documentary highlight, In Praise of the Queen by Tatia Skirtladze, revisits the Cold War era when four legendary Georgian chess players revolutionized women’s chess worldwide and became icons of female emancipation. The film also includes appearances by Yugoslav chess champion and journalist Milunka Lazarević.
Among the fiction selections is Indian Summer, directed by Pia Hierzegger, following three women in their late forties who unexpectedly discover hidden treasure and spontaneously head toward Venice. What begins as a nostalgic getaway turns into a moving road trip of self-discovery, friendship, and second chances.
Stories, directed by Abu Bakr Shawky, reflects on long-distance correspondence as a kind of 1970s dating platform, inspired by the letters exchanged between the filmmaker’s parents between Vienna and Cairo. Blending family history with wider political events, the film is both nostalgic and darkly humorous.
A major literary and intellectual highlight of the festival is Elfriede Jelinek – Language Unleashed, directed by Claudia Müller. The documentary explores the life and work of Elfriede Jelinek, the first German-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The film focuses especially on her radical relationship to language, presenting a layered and associative portrait full of contradictions while examining her unique technique of linguistic montage. This screening is expected to be one of the festival’s most significant events for lovers of literature, cinema, and critical thought.
Also screening is Soufflé by Gastón Solnicki, a surreal drama set in a legendary Vienna hotel threatened by redevelopment, where its longtime manager fights to preserve the only world he has ever known. Meanwhile, family audiences can enjoy Franz’s Adventures, a comedy based on the beloved children’s book series by Christine Nöstlinger, presented as part of the special youth program Mali DKC.
Beyond film screenings, the festival includes a parallel art program. In the gallery of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade, visitors can experience Druzhina, an installation by Tatia Skirtladze, open from April 16 to May 16. Inspired by the legendary chess players portrayed in her film, the work celebrates strategy, solidarity, and public action. A chess tournament titled Friends of Chess will also be held on April 19, followed by a screening and artist talk.
This year’s edition also marks 25 years of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Serbia, with the film program curated by writer and journalist Ana Vučković Denčić. Screenings will be held at the Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Cineplexx Stop Shop, and Cineplexx Promenada.
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