Back To Africa

In the 16th century, young men put themselves in great danger to look for mysterious crystals in a tunnel in the Styrian Erzberg. Some of them never returned from searching for this symbol of perfect love. In the 20th century, the student Barbara tries to pursue this legend of her home town.

Karl Prantl, the main character in the film, is one of the leading figures of Austrian art. As a sculptor - as one who shapes stones - he has produced an oeuvre of rare consistency and coherence, created out of an awareness of the fundamental concerns and utterances of man.

The story tells of a love which after ten years is beginning to grow old, and of the attempt to turn the imminent end into a new beginning. After ten years of eventful relationship, man and woman have finally decided to say yes to each other in an abandoned railway station on the edge of town. It is the first evening in their new home. Everything is temporary, nothing is finished. The furniture has not yet been delivered, the heating is not functioning yet, the telephone is not connected, neither is the television. They are inescapably confronted with their own selves and with each other. And although, at least at the beginning, they fervently strive for love and harmony, the past catches up with them. When he, as always, seeks to withdraw by taking flight, he discovers that his key does not fit. He is at her mercy. Ruthlessly, they call each other to account.

This documentary road movie features the international jazz big band Vienna Art Orchestra on its tour trough Europe and Canada. A search for the truth of surviving and working in today's cultural world. The musical program of Vienna Art Orchestra's 20th Anniversary Tour under the direction of Mathias Rüegg is entitled "An Echo from Europe - From Django Reinhardt to Django Bates" and is intended as an homage to European jazz composers.

Documentary about farmers in the Austrian Alps.

THE ELECTION CAMPAIGNERS tries to analyse the phenomenon of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ). The party’s great success is generally regarded as a result of its leader’s demonic charisma. But this film doesn’t focus on Jörg Haider. Instead it gives a face to the people who make Haider’s election victories possible, taking a clear stance, yet refraining from commentary or judgement. It is up to the viewers to draw their own conclusions.

Lisa has grown up in an orphanage. She is looking forward to her adoption, as she doesn't know that her new parents are about to divorce. The Saber-toothed cat which she meets in a museum intervenes as a "feles ex machina".

Documentarians Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer turn their camera on 81-year-old Traudl Junge, who served as Adolf Hitler's secretary from 1942 to 1945, and allow her to speak about her experiences. Junge sheds light on life in the Third Reich and the days leading up to Hitler's death in the famed bunker, where Junge recorded Hitler's last will and testament. Her gripping account is nothing short of mesmerizing.

In this documentary road movie, Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann records the diverse views and activities of Israelis and Arabs as she travels along the route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Ecological interdependence, co-creation, resilience and collaboration in nature – these are the topics dealt with in this documentary film, viewed against the backdrop of our increasingly threatened environment. Beyond the poles of nostalgia and techno-futurism, the film’s impressive images provide an insight into natural processes and systems. Dead forest in Central Europe is becoming living forest again. Floating beds in Bangladesh are taking on climate change. In the dunes of China’s desert regions, thousands of people are working on the largest renaturalisation project in the world. In the Danube Delta between Romania and Ukraine, old dams from the Soviet era are being dismantled so that a European wetland can once again become a biodiverse natural landscape. Nature as a role model and a potential game changer for future-oriented, innovative adaptation strategies? This film highlights some successful approaches to tackling our current ecological challenges.

The Days and the Year depicts the life and agricultural work of Gottfried and Elfie on a small farm in the Waldviertel region of Austria. Having decided in favour of ‘small-scale’ farming, the two of them have consequentially pursued this aim, always regarding their animals as living creatures and the soil as a cosmos in its own right.

A parable on the relationship between human beings and animals, subject and object, thinking and life.

Documentary about traditional costumes and their contemporary use in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.