There is a small town in Austria called Pinkafeld, which gained adverse publicity as a “Nazi village” during the presidential election of 2017, when a majority of its citizens voted for their famous neighbour, the right wing candidate Norbert Hofer. What do people really think in regard to their homeland, refugees and populism? The community shows a society in transition, a microcosm reflecting Europe’s zeitgeist.

Shadows of Light combines the loud and soft tones of life. The centerpiece is an Austrian mountain pasture where the summer solstice is celebrated with international artists and where tradition and zeitgeist are not contradictory.

Wolves divide and fascinate us. 150 years after they were driven to extinction in Central Europe, they are returning slowly but inexorably. Are they dangerous to humans? Is it possible to coexist? Using Switzerland as a point of departure, where wolves have returned in the very recent past, this documentary sheds light on the wolf situation in Austria, eastern Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and even Minnesota, where freely roaming packs of wolves are more common sight.

Johanna Dohnal, whose political career spans three decades, was one of the very first explicitly feminist politicians in Europe. As a member of the Austrian socialist government and the first Austrian minister for Women’s Affairs from 1990 to 1994, Dohnal was responsible for founding Austria’s first women’s refuge as well as criminalizing of marital rape. Yet her legacy remains yet to be discovered and re-examined. DIE DOHNAL makes a first step, and it makes Dohnal come alive.

'Zweite Tür Rechts' is a satirical political comedy about the Austrian government's Department of Direct Democracy.

"Politics for Austria," "Fairness," "We provide security"-election slogans that promise a return to bygone morals, adorn the city of Vienna before the Austrian national parliamentary elections in 2017. The mistrust with regard to supposed political elites, coupled with promises made by the right wing populist parties, polarize Austrian society. INLAND offers intimate insight into the lives of its protagonists and thereby draws a genre picture of their fears and hopes in complex times.

Single mother Kathi receives day release from prison and finds her three-year-old son, who is living with her unstable mother, in bad circumstances. She is forced to find a way to enable a better future for him, while time is against her, she has to be back in prison at six pm.

Best-of Program

Close to paying off her debts, a Nigerian sex worker in Austria coaches a reluctant novice, and assesses the risks of taking a faster path to freedom.