The twelfth edition of the Seoul International Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival (SESIFF) has sent out its invitations, and among their recipients is a six-person film delegation from Vienna. The reason is 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the festival’s “Austria Focus” in 2022. Several short films from Film Academy Vienna (including Bato Nebo, Echthaar, and Fische) are to be screened as their own block, a master class with director Magdalena Chmielewska (Lullaby) is scheduled, and The Best Orchestra in the World will be shown as part of the opening event.

Since 2015, EFP – European Film Promotion has been introducing ten outstanding young directors along with their current films in the Future Frames section of each year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Several Film Academy Vienna students having been represented there over the past few years, and this year once again saw a film make it into the official selection: Magdalena Chmielewska presented her Max Ophüls Prize-winning film Lullaby at the festival, and she spoke with mdw Magazin about the significance of such a film festival invitation and why she’s always thinking about her next project.

When actors, directors, and producers meet, casting calls are frequently the reason. As was the case this time—with one difference: to ring in the new year, Avia Seeliger met with Ercan Karaçayli, Daniel Holzberg, and Lena Weiss to discuss the phenomenon of typecasting.

Film editors do their work in the background, and exactly what goes on in the editing suite is familiar to very few. It’s there, however, that a film’s content and message are refined and honed, and it’s editing and sound that render the images truly effective. Film Academy editing students Julia Willi and Philipp Mayer tell us about their studies, editing’s importance in film production, and the soft skills brought to bear by editors in their work.

“What can we expect when we watch your movies at the cinema?” was the first question that mdw Magazine had for the Film Academy alumni Clara Stern and Peter Hengl. We quickly found out: before the audience can expect anything of their films, they’ll first have to fulfil their makers’ expectations—which are quite high indeed.

Sci-Fi flicks with breathtaking visual effects and digital art: for a whole lot of us, the instant association here is with Hollywood. But the filmmakers behind Rubikon want to demonstrate that in the future, people should also think of Austria.

Film Academy Vienna has a new professor of directing: Jessica Hausner joined us to discuss her approach to the filmic medium and the emphases that she envisions for her teaching. This spring will see the release of a book on this filmmaker’s oeuvre as part of a series published by Film Academy Vienna.

The core feature of training for the job as cinematographer is students’ freedom to learn in a playful manner. They need time and space so that they can grow artistically, dare to experiment, probe boundaries, explore visual languages, and pursue new avenues of creativity.