| Diagonale | 2025 | Recap |

Despite the tense cultural-political situation and unpredictable weather great atmosphere in Graz!

Diagonale ’25 opening night at the Helmut List Halle © Harald Wawrzyniak

The Festival of Austrian Film took place for the 28th time in Graz from March 27 to April 1, 2025 – once again under the artistic direction of Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar. The spring in Graz, traditionally arriving with the Festival of Austrian Film, showed its wet and cold side this year – providing perfect cinema weather!

“Despite the tense cultural-political situation and unpredictable weather, the Diagonale brought a great atmosphere to Graz! The festival once again proved itself as a place where one could be enriched by the diverse perspectives of Austrian film art. As part of a strong cultural and film scene, it demonstrated that its strength and power lie in sharpening the view and not losing courage. The award winners of Diagonale 2025 demonstrated how strongly Austrian cinema has opened up to an international context. They stand for the plurality of Austrian society and prove a critical spirit. We congratulate the winners warmly! We are very happy about the lively audience response, that we were able to record even more visitors in the cinemas than last year and that many screenings were sold out. Our thanks go to our wonderful team, without whom a festival of this size would not be feasible. Thanks also to the filmmakers, producers and distributors who have once again placed their trust in us. We look forward to next year!“ — Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar, Festival Directors

The Festival of Austrian Film celebratetd it’s opening on March 27 in the Helmut List Halle with the Austrian premiere of How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World by Florian Pochlatko, who described himself as a ‘child of Diagonale’. Ani Gülgün-Mayr hosted the opening evening of the 28th Diagonale in Graz. During the opening, the Great Diagonale Acting Award 2025 for services to Austrian film culture was presented to Inge Maux, a work of art designed by Maruša Sagadin. The acting jury members Maria Köstlinger and Michael Sturminger gave the laudatory speech and described Maux as a ‘spectral joy generator, a big package of heart’!  Among the numerous guests from the film industry, politics, business and public life were Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler, State Cultural Councilor Karlheinz Kornhäusl, Mayor Elke Kahr, Deputy Mayor Judith Schwendtner and Cultural City Councilor Günter Riegler.

Once again: A a veritable award marathon
The heart of the past festival edition was once again the film competition with 113 films, the spectrum of which in 2025, in addition to established filmmakers, was characterized by a particularly large number of debuts and new discoveries. As usual, feature, documentary and innovative films of various lengths were presented – 83 productions celebrated their world or Austrian premieres on the Graz cinema screens as part of the festival.Hosted by Zaid Alsalame and Monika Klengel, with musical accompaniment by Basquel, the Diagonale Awards were presented on March 31 in the largest hall of the Annenhof Cinema in the presence of a large number of filmmakers and foundation representatives, most notably the Grand Diagonale Awards of the Province of Styria for Best Feature Film and Best Documentary Film. Mo Harawe was awarded for  Village Next to Paradise and Lisa Polster for Bürglkopf . The Diagonale Award for Innovative Cinema of the City of Graz went to Michael Gülzow for Der tote Winkel der Wahrnehmung. All award winners received a work of art, designed and made by the artist Anna Paul: the golden Diagonale Nut, a scale bronze sculpture of a nutmeg that fits in any trouser or skirt pocket – a companion for all occasions, which also celebrated its tenth anniversary this year! The overview of the award winners and donors, as well as the jury statements, can be found → here.

Also awarded during the Diagonale were the Kodak Analogue Film Prize to Isabella Brunäcker for Sugarland on Friday evening, and the Franz Grabner Award (Best Cinema Documentary Film Mâine Mă Duc – Tomorrow I Leave by Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel) on Saturday evening. On Monday morning, the Carl Mayer Screenplay Awards (Main Prize to Klemens Hufnagl for the treatment of Wenn Fische Robben fressen) and the Thomas Pluch Screenplay Awards (Main Prize to Mo Harawe for The Village Next to Paradise) were presented, and on Tuesday evening the Kleine Zeitung Audience Award, which went to Perla by Alexandra Makarová.

FILMSPECIALS AT DIAGONALE ’25:

| Position | Athena Rachel Tsangari |
Diagonale 2025 dedicated a comprehensive retrospective to director and producer Athina Rachel Tsangari, presenting Tsangari’s complete oeuvre in Austria for the first time.

| Position | Ivette Löcker |
A comprehensive retrospective with a film premiere for the documentary filmmaker, who, through her sensitive explorations of relationship dynamics, subtly reflects on societal structures.

| Film History | Austria – A Satire |
In seven programs, the festival embarked on a quest to explore the satirical works from 1976 to 1989 in Austrian film and television history.

| Film History | From the Giftschrank |
Wien-Films toxic legacy in three programs.

SUPPORTING PROGRAM ’25:

With the support of the festival’s main sponsor, Steiermärkische Sparkasse, in-depth talks and discussions took place under the title Nachspann and Nachspann EXTRA – for cinema that goes beyond the screen, including with Florian Pochlatko, Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Ivette Löcker, Inge Maux, Paul Poet and Lisa Polster. The festival’s industry meeting, the Film Meeting, focused on topics such as inclusion and barrier reduction, cinema as a social space and film and funding policy in Austria. In the Forum in Heimatsaal, there was also, among other things, a special on Let’s talk about Scripts! with Alexandra Makarová, the FC Gloria Salon and the magazine presentation of YES&NO.

Traditionally, the exhibition at Kunsthaus Graz was also closely associated with the festival: Simona Obholzer, the designer of the Diagonale ’25 trailer, presented her exhibition ‘Pleasant to the Eye, Soft to the Feet’ there, while Susanna Flock was a guest with her installation ‘Unmatched Signals’ at Kunsthalle Graz. The Street Cinema Graz was moved to the Lendhotel due to bad weather, which did not detract from the good atmosphere, and the Cinema Next Breakfast Club invited people to exchange experiences under the title ‘The Joke’s on – Humorous Storytelling in Film’. The audience was able to end the festival days both relaxed at the Diagonale Bar in the Volksgarten Pavillon – hosted by Eule Bier – and dancing wildly at Club Diagonale, which made its debut at Forum Stadtpark this year.

The wonderful team once again made a significant contribution to the success of the festival in 2025 and deserve the greatest thanks!