| Media Coverage 2026 | Selection |

“The film festival where it really is all about film.”
Welt, Marie-Luise Goldmann

“The Diagonale’s short film programs are always a hit: 29 innovative films are in competition, creating a rush of images.”
Radio FM4

“From trouser roles to experimental films: the Diagonale impresses with the full diversity of Austrian film.”
Der Standard, Valerie Dirk

“Anyone who wants to understand why our present is the way it is should indeed occasionally look back. Not out of nostalgia, but out of curiosity. Sometimes the future is most clearly recognized in the past. With New Uncertainties, the Diagonale provides the images to go with it.”
Raiffeisen Zeitung, Manfred Horak

“… the most important festival for Austrian film – a central meeting place for filmmakers and an enthusiastic cinema audience.”
Heute

“The Diagonale is not only a meeting place for the long-established film industry, but also a stage for people who are just beginning to gain a foothold in it.”
The Gap

“The Diagonale is the perfect meeting place for everyone who wants to experience Austrian film up close!”
der Grazer

“The beautiful thing about the Diagonale is that you get to see things on the big screen that you would otherwise tend to encounter in art exhibitions or late-night special-interest programs on TV. The range is astonishing.”
Steirer Krone, Michaela Reichart

“There are always very beautiful discoveries to be made at Diagonale in its many short film programs.”
Ö1, Julia Baschiera

“Anyone who visits Diagonale and takes time not only for one or two must-see events, but spends a few days strolling from one cinema to the next through the Styrian spring in search of the unexpected, will indeed be richly rewarded.”
profil, Stefan Grissemann

“Just arrived in beautiful Graz for the opening of the 29th edition of Diagonale. This festival is always full of special moments.”
Cinematologist, Jovan Vasiljević

“Even though the festival has to make savings and one fewer cinema screen is being used, the program feels as abundant and varied as ever.”
FALTER, Michael Omasta

“I really am a regular guest – and voluntarily so. I would go even if I didn’t have a film there myself, simply because I like this festival so much. (…) The people, the conversations, the films and this special atmosphere in Graz – the Diagonale has something very much its own. You arrive – and you are immediately right in the middle of it.”
Hilde Dalik im Interview mit der Kleinen Zeitung

“The Diagonale in Graz offers a showcase of Austrian filmmaking. But it is particularly convincing thanks to its expertly curated programs.”
taz. die tageszeitung, Silvia Hallensleben

“The Diagonale film festival presents a multifaceted selection of current Austrian films. Its diverse program delights film fans and culture lovers alike.”
Moments

“A brilliant start in the spirit of film: Under the direction of festival directors Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar, the 29th Diagonale got off to a lively start at the Helmut List Halle. With the premiere of Rose and the honoring of Hilde Dalik, Graz’s prominent figures celebrated a great festival of film culture.”
der Grazer, Victoria Weitenthaler

“This year’s Diagonale in Graz opens with a remarkably stirring historical film.”
orf.at, Sonia Neufeld

“Festival as an antidote to the noise of the brain-dead: The Diagonale opens in Graz with a passionate plea for cultural diversity and financial stability.”
Kleine Zeitung, Ute Baumhackl

“Diagonale shows courage: Unlike the Berlinale, the Austrian film festival does not shy away from serious debates. Many of the 149 productions in the program also deal with explosive issues.”
Kronen Zeitung, Jasmin Gaderer

“Cinema halls are filling up, the screens are flickering – this month, Graz once again becomes the country’s film capital.”
Radio Soundportal

“Fighting stories in a contested world: The most important festival of domestic film is beginning. The program is full of treasures waiting to be discovered.”
Salzburger Nachrichten, Gini Brenner

“The future of Austrian film may be precarious in terms of funding – but there is no shortage of talent.”
Die Presse, Andrey Arnold

“The directorial duo Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar – clear-sighted and alert as ever in their speech – advocated, among other things, for spaces without the immediate pressure to react and against disruptions caused by banal noise.”
Kleine Zeitung, Ute Baumhackl

“Deindustrialization, unemployment, the aftereffects of the Bosnian War: All of this is taken up by the film-historical program New Uncertainties, which engages in diverse ways with the social and political upheavals of the decade.”
Jungle World, Esther Buss

“While other festivals focus on glamour, Graz remains a place of constant questioning, including of its own industry. That is one of the Diagonale’s strengths.”
Die Furche, Matthias Greuling

“Once again, cinephiles are looking to Graz – if they are not already there: The Diagonale is currently bringing its characteristically dense film program to Styrian cinemas.”
Die Presse

“For 29 years, the festival of Austrian film has been not only a showcase of domestic creative work, but also a barometer of social and political ruptures and upheavals.”
subtext, Andreas Kepplinger

“During Diagonale time, Graz is buzzing. The cafés are full, people party at night as if there were no tomorrow, and above all, the film community gathers in the cinemas.”
orf.at, Simon Hadler

“The program And in the Middle explores one of the favorite places of Austrians by upbringing. A wonderful subject.”
Salzburger Nachrichten, Gini Brenner

“In Graz, the festival of Austrian film shows how transnational domestic cinema has become.”
Die Presse, Andrey Arnold

“… much to celebrate at this year’s Diagonale, as Austrian filmmaking is showing itself from a strong side.”
Kurier, Alexandra Seibel

“Already at the opening of the Diagonale, one could observe and experience an industry that, in the face of cuts and political changes, presented itself as very combative. This commitment was also reflected in the initiatives taking place away from the screen. All of this shows that the Austrian film industry is not only artistically alive, but also structurally and politically alert.”
Ö1, Julia Baschiera

“Orgies, unemployment and cross-dressing: Things get political at the Diagonale. In doing so, the festival of Austrian film does quite a few things better than the Berlinale or the Oscars.”
Welt, Marie-Luise Goldmann

“The Diagonale nut is probably the most beautiful award in the world, because it is nut-sized, fits into any trouser or jacket pocket, takes up no imposing shelf space, and yet is important.”
Südtiroler Tageszeitung, Renate Mumelter

“One wise insight of the Diagonale is that historical retrospectives in particular create the best framework for current films. And the efforts of today’s middle generation of filmmakers to come to terms with the past appear all the more interesting when seen against the background of the series New Uncertainties, curated by Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar.”
Filmtett, Zsófia Buglya

“Here, Austrian film reveals itself in all its contradictions: internationally successful, precarious at home; aesthetically bold, economically fragile. An industry that is sliding into crisis amid great success.”
Die Furche, Matthias Greuling

“Diagonale 2026 is heading into its finale with a strong focus on documentary film.”
Steirer Krone, Michaela Reichart

“The Film Meeting felt refreshing. The focus on children’s film proved extremely fruitful and placed at the center a topic that is otherwise rather rarely addressed at events like these.”
The Spot Media & Film, Lea Morgenstern

“In this year’s program of the indestructible Austro-film festival, domestic filmmaking appears, in the best sense, all over the place: on the one hand quite scattered in its themes and aesthetics, yet at the same time in lively correspondence with diverse lifeworlds beyond national borders. Hungry for external input, cosmopolitan and globally connected.”
Die Presse, Andrey Arnold

“The relationship of trust that film festivals can, at best, establish is the foundation of their success. For the comforting feeling of being in the best curatorial hands leads to a kind of alert openness, to sharpened senses. At the Diagonale in Graz, this receptiveness can be felt everywhere. Moving through this festival is like moving through a gently heightened aesthetic world, drifting through lovingly curated short film programs, cinematic fictions and documents, undertaking genuine voyages of discovery through moving images, industry talks and concerts.”
profil, Stefan Grissemann

“This year’s Diagonale comes to an end on Monday evening with the award ceremony, leaving behind some open yet exciting discussion points on the self-representation of political figures and their influence.”
Der Standard, Valerie Dirk

“The Diagonale is one of those cinematic islands where demanding art, audience-friendly cinema and provocative filmic challenges resonate with the public.”
filmpress.sk, Martina Vacková/Radovan Holub

“The festival of Austrian film was present throughout the entire city. It feels very good to have had the Diagonale in Graz – great anticipation for next year.”
FAZIT, Michael Petrowitsch

“The high quality and continuing international visibility of Austrian cinematography is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that at the Berlinale, which takes place every year shortly before the Diagonale, no fewer than twelve Austrian co-productions were represented this time. We will find out what Austrian filmmakers will have produced by the beginning of next year in April 2027, at the 30th edition of the Diagonale.”
EKRAN, Anja Naglic