| Film History | New Uncertainties – Austrian Documentary Cinema in the 1990s |

Traditionally also a place of new discoveries and rediscoveries, not only in terms of the films in competition, the upcoming edition of Diagonale will once again offer two film history specials in the Film History section, which allow conclusions to be drawn about the Austrian present by looking at the past.

Diagonale is pleased to announce the first of the two programes, including some films that have already been confirmed: Under the title New Uncertainties – Austrian Documentary Cinema in the 1990s, the festival will embark on a search for traces of domestic documentary filmmaking 30 years ago in seven programmes.

Postadresse: 2604 Schlöglmühl by Egon Humer © Prisma Film

„‘Neue Unsicherheiten’ (New Uncertainties) looks back at the 1990s in Austria: a new beginning and disillusionment after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc are combined with political and economic crises that continue to have an impact today. The documentary film of this period records these developments and questions them. It is characterised by a new diversity of forms that is critical of representation.“ — Dominik Kamalzadeh & Claudia Slanar

The special shows how Austrian cinema dealt with the various developments of that time – from the aforementioned collapse of the Eastern Bloc to the Yugoslav Wars with flight and migration, the definitive end of the Kreisky era and the rise of Jörg Haider, to new forms of remembrance culture and changes in youth culture. Here is a selection of the films:

In Postadresse: 2640 Schlöglmühl (1990), Egon Humer examines the moral, political and emotional consequences eight years after the closure of a paper factory that was considered one of the most important employers in the region. Amidst decaying buildings, abandoned factory halls and the voices of those affected, one of the most remarkable social studies in Austrian cinema history emerges, in which powerlessness and oblivion are equally palpable. In his groundbreaking short film Knittelfeld – Stadt ohne Geschichte (Knittelfeld – City Without History, 1997), Gerhard Benedikt Friedl links the transformation of an entire city with the fate of one family. In the early 1990s, shopping centres and retail outlets fundamentally changed the face of this small Styrian town, while at the same time violence and crime unfolded in a family tragedy. Margareta Heinrich and Eduard Erne opened the dark chapter of Rechnitz 1945 with Totschweigen (1994): Around 180 Hungarian-Jewish forced labourers were victims of a mass murder in a field. Their graves are still being searched for today. Four decades after the end of the war, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, gaps in memory, silence and the contradictory testimonies of the residents are documented.

In his intimate long-term observation Das Jahr nach Dayton (The Year After Dayton, 1997), Nikolaus Geyrhalter accompanies a handful of people as they rebuild their lives after the end of the Bosnian War: exhumations from mass graves, destroyed houses and the daily struggle for normality reveal that after a catastrophe there are no more questions, only answers – incomplete, fragile and human. Barbara Albert portrays four young people who survived the war in Sarajevo in an equally impressive manner in Somewhere Else (1997) – four months after the end of the war, they describe their feelings during the siege of the city and their attempts not to lose hope for a better future. Draga Ljiljana (2000) by Nina Kusturica develops from a touching search for her childhood friend Ljiljana into a personal quest – for her own childhood, her past and a homeland destroyed by war. And in his debut Aufzeichnungen aus dem Tiefparterre (2000), Rainer Frimmel documents the life of Viennese truck driver Peter Haindl from 1993 to 1999. Haindl reflects, laments and politicises in front of the camera, alternating between narcissistic poses and contrite self-analysis. Frimmel’s montage opens up a multi-layered portrait of the Austrian soul, in which everyday life, resentment and self-irony collide.

The program was curated by Claudia Slanar and Dominik Kamalzadeh. The Diagonale would like to thank the Filmarchiv Austria, the ORF Archive and the Austrian Film Museum for their support.