{"id":93279,"date":"2026-02-09T16:58:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/?page_id=93279"},"modified":"2026-02-11T15:51:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:51:06","slug":"eroeffnungsfilm-diagonale-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/eroeffnungsfilm-diagonale-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"| Opening Film | Diagonale 2026 |"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Diagonale 2026 <\/strong>Opening<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday March 18 | 7.30 p.m.
\nHelmut List Halle, Graz<\/p>\n

Supported by
\nEnergie Steiermark<\/p>\n

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\n

Previous Films by Markus Schleinzer at Diagonale:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2019
\nAngelo<\/a>
\nFeature
\nAT\/LU 2018, 111 min<\/p>\n

2012
\nMichael<\/a>
\nFeature
\nAT 2011, 96 min<\/p>\n

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xxx--xxx<\/pre>\n
ROSE
\nBY MARKUS SCHLEINZER
\n<\/strong>(AT\/DE 2026, 93 min, b\/w)<\/p>\n
Diagonale is pleased to announce that the Festival of Austrian Film will open with the Austrian premier of Markus Schleinzer\u2019s feature Rose <\/em><\/strong>in the presence of the filmmaker along with members of the cast and crew!!<\/p>\n
\"Sandra
Rose \u00a9 Schubert \/ ROW Pictures \/ Walker+Worm Film \/ Gerald Kerkletz<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThere was more freedom in pants, and it\u2019s just a piece of fabric. So I went for the pants.\u201d
\n<\/em>
\nIn the midst of the Thirty Years\u2019 War, a soldier appears in a Protestant village, claiming to be the heir to an abandoned manor. The mysterious stranger dispels the villagers\u2019 initial suspicion through his courage and energy. Only the omniscient narrator knows the soldier\u2019s true identity: Rose is a woman living as a man, taking on and shedding a variety of roles \u2013 eccentric, bear slayer, landowner, husband, father \u2013 until a seemingly trivial moment, namely, a bee sting, sets off a chain reaction with far-reaching consequences.<\/p>\n
Actor Sandra H\u00fcller impressively embodies the eponymous Rose, using little more than her gaze, posture, and gait to lend an extraordinary presence in this portrait of a woman that oscillates between fiction and historical accuracy.<\/p>\n
Based on historical accounts of women who passed themselves off as men in the 17th century in order to work and lead independent lives, Markus Schleinzer paints a portrait of a \u201cfemale person\u201d who transcends the boundaries of her gender and thus writes her own biography. Rose asks essential questions about freedom and identity \u2013 and also about who has the power to tell a story.<\/p>\n
A Powerful Parable About the Present Day<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen choosing an opening film, we always aim to send a message: a message about the special relationship with the present that is inherent in the film. Rose touched us deeply because it speaks from the past about freedoms that must be fought for, ideally through alliances. And about freedoms that can be quickly lost again if they are not protected. In Markus Schleinzer\u2019s magnificent film, a \u2018female person\u2019 assumes the clothing and identity of a man, thereby gaining access to opportunities in a 17th-century Protestant village that were previously denied to her. Through small gestures and precise glances, the film achieves remarkable emotional intensity. It raises the question of what it means to live a life in constant risk of deceit. Against this backdrop, a haunting parable of the present unfolds in which patriarchal power structures and their violence are made visible, while at the same time offering glimpses of fragile, utopian forms of coexistence. Schleinzer\u2019s direction remains crystal clear and minimalist, carried by an outstanding performance by Sandra H\u00fcller, who conveys the inner tensions of this woman with great precision. Rose\u2019s inner conflicts and the violence of social ostracism have had a lasting impact on us. It is a disturbing film that shows how quickly deviation becomes suspect \u2013 and how relentlessly power protects itself.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Dominik Kamalzadeh & Claudia Slanar | Festivalleitung<\/p>\n
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    Diagonale 2026 Opening Wednesday March 18 | 7.30 p.m. Helmut List Halle, Graz Supported by Energie Steiermark   Previous Films by Markus Schleinzer at Diagonale: 2019 Angelo Feature AT\/LU 2018, 111 min 2012 Michael Feature AT 2011, 96 min  – ROSE BY MARKUS SCHLEINZER (AT\/DE 2026, 93 min, b\/w) Diagonale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-93279","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93279"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93459,"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/93279\/revisions\/93459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diagonale.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}