| Diagonale Awards Cinematoghrapy 2026 |

| BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY FEATURE FILM |
| from the Association of Austrian Cinematographers AAC |

Johannes Hoss
Licht, kein Licht

Jury Statement:
In this film, the cinematography questions the reality it depicts in a way that is both unsettling and inquisitive. What we see becomes uncertain. The pathways and spaces of human routine are transformed into sites of tension, where meaning is constantly being renegotiated.

and

| BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY DOCUMENTARY FILM |
| from the Association of Austrian Cinematographers AAC |

Stefan Neuberger
Mit Ästen bis zum Himmel

Jury Statement:
The choice of framing is always precise: it allows us a sensuous access to a world experienced through touch, feeling, and perception. In doing so, the camera never tries to explain anything to us. On the one hand, it accompanies — and on the other, it does what is uniquely its own: it sees. In this way, it is capable of something the protagonists themselves cannot do. And yet this exchange becomes a sensitive interplay, in which limitations make closeness possible and, in turn, open up new insights for us.

Jury Feature Film:
Ulrike Müller (Casting Director, DE)
Ivan Salatić (Director & Screenwriter, ME)
Cyril Schäublin (Director & Screenwriter, CH)*

Jury Documentary Film:
Susanna Guggenberger (Producer & Festival Director, AT/CH)
Jan Künemund (Cultural Journalist & Curator, DE)
Carmen Trocker (Director & Curator, IT)

*Cyril Schäublin stepped in at short notice for Faraz Fesharaki (director & cinematographer, DE/IR), who unfortunately cannot attend the Diagonale due to the current situation in Iran.