Crossing europe film Festival Linz

Media Information – Linz, 3 February 2015

Work on the festival program is going on under full steam for the coming CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival Linz, which takes place from Thursday, 23 April to Tuesday, 28 April this year. Now for the twelfth time already, the festival devotes its program again in 2015 to contemporary and socio-critical auteur cinema from Europe, devoting special attention to work by a young generation of directors, who will be distinguished with money and material prizes. Over the course of six days, Festival Director Christine Dollhofer and her team present about 180 current European feature films, documentaries, and short films, largely Austrian premieres. The film entries are impressive not only because of their quality, but also their quantity. Almost 1,000 productions have been viewed over the course of the year, of which roughly 180 alone are film works by local filmmakers (2014: 190).

Numerous program highlights await the festival audience in the coming festival: as already announced in December, this year CROSSING EUROPE devotes the Tribute to the Ukrainian-born and internationally celebrated director Sergei Loznitsa, who will be in Linz to present all of his so far 18 feature films and documentaries (1996-2015) in person. This will be the first comprehensive screening of his oeuvre in Austria. In addition, CINEMA NEXT Europe is a new program focal point for European newcomers in filmmaking. The festival is also delighted to announce that the Festival Trailer 2015 will be designed by the young media artist Katharina Gruzei. Here are the updates on CROSSING EUROPE 2015 in detail:
New in the Program: CINEMA NEXT Europe

From the beginning, the focus of the CROSSING EUROPE program has been on film works by a young generation of directors from Europe. This is expanded in 2015 with the program focal point CINEMA NEXT Europe, a new program section for European newcomers in filmmaking. In cooperation with the Austrian initiative for new talents, “CINEMA NEXT – Junges Kino aus Österreich” (www.cinemanext.at), filmmakers from Austria and Europe will be presented, who are anticipating their feature film debut and make an exciting impression with their current works. This is intended to draw attention to young talents, who will enrich European cinema in the future.

In addition to the presentation of a total of six film programs – four European and two Austrian programs – this new focal point of the program also comprises a framework program, to which film students, future film, media & cultural studies scholars, and young newcomers in the field of film are cordially invited. Plans include panel discussions (e.g. on the topic of “How to get noticed?”) as well as networking gatherings and informal talks.

The aim of establishing CINEMA NEXT Europe as a component of the festival program is to create a European platform for newcomers in film. This program focal point is intended to appeal, on the one hand, to all the filmmakers who want to go a step further in the direction of a professional “film career”, and on the other to an audience interested in the filmmaking of the “next generation”.

CINEMA NEXT Europe takes place in cooperation with “CINEMA NEXT – Junges Kino aus Österreich”, Breaking Ground and Kinoklub Zagreb, and with support from Creative Europe Desk Austria – Media.

CROSSING EUROPE pleased to announce that the new Festival Trailer (in cooperation with OK | Offenes Kulturhaus Upper Austria and the Energie AG Upper Austria) will be made by the young media artist Katharina Gruzei (*1983). Katharina Gruzei (http://katharinagruzei.blogspot.co.at/) studied experimental audiovisual design and art & cultural studies at the Art University Linz. Studies abroad have taken her to the Art Department of the University of California Santa Barbara and to the masterclass Katharina Sieverding for Visual Cultural Studies at the University of Arts Berlin. Katharina Gruzei works with photography, film, video, installations, performances transferred to media, sound, and objects. In 2012 she was distinguished with the CROSSING EUROPE Award – Local Artist for her experimental short film DIE ARBEITERINNEN VERLASSEN DIE FABRIK (AT 2011), and last fall she also received the Energie AG Art Promotion Award 2014, which is awarded in cooperation with the Art University Linz.

The Festival Trailer 2015 designed by Katharina Gruzei will be used for festival promotion and will be shown in Austrian program cinemas. In addition, installative works by the artist will be shown during the festival in the OK | Offenes Kulturhaus Upper Austria.

OK | Art Prize of the Energie AG

Since 2013 artistic projection works have been presented during CROSSING EUROPE on the outside facade of the Upper Austrian Culture Quarter, which is thus expanded into an art space. Starting this year, this fascinating engagement with film/light in public space is to be further developed and strengthened with the new direction of the Energie AG Art Prize. Under the motto “the best idea wins”, in 2015 this prize, awarded for the third time to students and graduates of the Art University Linz and funded by the Energie AG, is announced as a NEW project scholarship for an outdoor projection in the Upper Austrian Culture Quarter during CROSSING EUROPE with prize-money amounting to € 4,000. As the third partner the Upper Austrian Culture Quarter provides production means and technical assistance. In addition to Festival Director Christine Dollhofer, Franz Prieler (art commissioner for the Energie AG Upper Austria), Genoveva Rückert (OK in the Upper Austrian Culture Quarter) and Rainer Zendron (Art University Linz) have been nominated for the jury. Realization and presentation of the winning project will take place at the next CROSSING EUROPE in April 2015.

The call for proposals is still open until 20 February 2015. Further information on the criteria and regulations can be found here: http://www.ok-centrum.at/?q=content/programm/kunstpreis-der-energieag-2015

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Festival newspaper and website www.crossingEurope.at/EN with the complete festival program and screening times.

IMAGE MATERIAL & UPDATES

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