Festival 6 - 10 March, 2024

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Maria Lassnig Golden Film Reel
worth 10,000 €, sponsored by the Maria Lassnig Foundation

— LA PERRA by Carla Melo Gampert (CO/FR 2023)
Jury Statement: A mother daughter relationship, structured by love and dependency. Amidst them a dog, a dear and loyal companion holding together what might otherwise fall apart. Iterations of self expression through ambiguous explorations of sexuality. Incarnations of body, sensual experiences of discomfort and pleasure between the protection of home and the many outside eyes in a city. In trembling, beautifully crafted images.

Tricky Women/Tricky Realities Award
worth 4,000 €, sponsored by VdFS - Collecting Society of Audiovisual Authors

— THE FAMILY PORTRAIT by Lea Vidaković (HR/FR/RS 2023)
Jury Statement: Screaming silence. Between aristocratic nostalgia and imperial decay. A family gathering in anticipation of something about to happen. Weary tension, frozen faces, a juxtaposition of eerie encounters. A series of portraits of women from the back, a secret hairy drawer. Shrieking animals disrupting meticulously detailed sceneries.

MQ Artist-in-Residence Award
worth 3,900 € to live and work at the MQ - MuseumsQuartier Vienna under the Artist-in-Residence program, sponsored by MQ

— NUN OR NEVER by Heta Jäälinoja (FI 2023)
Jury Statement: Under each skirt a universe. A refreshing crush amongst the sisterhood. A funny, subtle and intelligent animation, that conveys the idea of a convent holding space not only for kinship but also for most pleasurable little sins.

The Grand Post Award
a post production voucher, worth 2,000 Euros, sponsored by The Grand Post – Audio & Picture Post Production

— TAKO TSUBO by Eva Pedroza and Fanny Sorgo (AT/DE 2024)
Jury Statement: Freedom and joy in filmmaking translate into dark explorations of loving and living. For its poetic, condensed and existentialist humor, we give the Grand Post award to Tako Tsubo.

Special Mentions International Competition

— A NAP IN FLUOROSCOPY BUSES von Lei Lei (CN 2022)
Jury Special Mention: For its experimental approach delivering a distinguished visual style, when exploring alienation and exposure in public when whilst commuting on a bus, body parts, cityscapes and dreamscapes start to merge.

— A CRAB IN THE POOL (CA 2023) by Alexandra Myotte & Jean-Sébastien Hamel
Jury Special Mention: For its well structured script with refined inner mechanics, that allows for an emotional and touching story to unfold, when holding space for all shades of grief between darkness and normalcy.

Sabine & Nicolai Sawczynski Audience Award in International Competition
worth, 1.000 Euros

— A CRAB IN THE POOL (CA 2023) by Alexandra Myotte & Jean-Sébastien Hamel

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UP & COMING COMPETITION

Up & Coming Tricky Women/Tricky Realities Award

— SWIM! by Isabel Santos (US 2022)
Jury Statement: What we were looking for in the Up & Coming section were young talents that surprise us with their unique ways of seeing the world, that are filled with unbridled energy and unashamed ways of being themselves. And we found it - in a film, that is a pop of colour without being in color at all; a vivaschious, unbridled force from its first minute to its last. The heroin, a girl on the brink of puberty, waddling around like a newly born duck, a duck out of water, so to say, and just simply amazed at everything that suddenly feels new and strange and awkward. On a seemingly normal day, at a swimming lesson that isn’t just about swimming anymore. And life will never be quite the same again.
For taking a brave plunge and capturing these big feelings in most unique, minimalist and sweetly hilarious ways, we award Isabel Santos and her film SWIM! with the Tricky Women Up & Coming Award.

Up & Coming Jury Special Mention

— SEWING LOVE by Xu Yuan (JP 2023)
Jury Special Mention: The sweet, adorable and fluid animations in the beginning do not prepare us for the nightmare that the film becomes; the horrific images are in contrast to the happy love story we are expecting. Instead, we are faced with a broken-winged butterfly that lands in a spider's net, a sad but familiar story of a toxic relationship. The void should never be filled by caging the one we care about.

Up & Coming Audience Award (Ex Aequo)
— IT’S JUST A WHOLE (DE 2023) by Bianca Scali
— CREVETTE (CH 2023) by Elina Huber, Noémi Knobil, Jill Vágner & Sven Bachmann

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AUGMENTED- & VIRTUAL-REALITY COMPETITION

Lumine Award for best VR and AR Works
worth 500€, sponsored by Lumine Projections

— NIGHT CREATURES, Isobel Knowles und Van Sowerwine, AU 2022 (Augmented Reality)
Jury Statement: Night Creatures stands out through a wonderfully unique concept and a meaningful application of augmented reality. The project seamlessly blends charming character design and animation with exciting and intuitive aspects of the technology.

Special Mention VR and AR Works:

— KINDRED, Bambou Kenneth, UK 2022 (Virtual Reality)
Jury Statement: KINDRED is an emotionally touching experience brought to life with technical and visual excellence. The incredibly well-rounded and heartwarming story captivates the audience while leaving a lasting impact.
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AUSTRIAN PANORAMA

Austrian Panorama Award
worth 1000 €, sponsored by VAM - Collecting Society for Audiovisual Media

— BEAUTIFUL CITY by Susana Ojeda & Hubert Marz, AT 2022
Jury Statement: We chose the movie because it shows two coexisting layers: the static landscapes as well as the agitated audio that enables the viewer to take an active role in imagining moments of resistance. The movie shows us the importance of a culture of remembrance in a digital age by preserving a moment of history while also creating an image of the public space as a space of possibilities.

Special Mention Austrian Panorama

— VIOLENCE. 031222_1 by Irene G. Villanueva, AT 2023
Special Mention: Our special mention goes to a film that is a statement of urgency to face the reality of femicides and a call to change abusive patriarchal structures.

Hubert-Sielecki-Award for an Austrian Animation
worth 500 Euros

— PLASMA – WOOD-BOOK STUDY III by Iby-Jolande Varga, AT 2023
Statement Hubert Sielecki: A multifaceted and mesmerizing short like a colourful firework display – a masterful computer animation with an absolutely fitting score by experienced musician Stephen Ferguson that blends perfectly with the author’s impressive visual execution.

Austrian Panorama Audience Award

— IRINA by Amelie Loy, AT 2023