Austrian Cultural Forum NYC

Disappearing Act III | A Showcase of Current European Cinema
APRIL 06 - APRIL 14

Following the success of the two previous editions of Disappearing Act, in 2009 and 2010, and highlighting the vitality of European cinema, the 2011 program presented 19 contemporary European films that have made a name for themselves on the festival circuit and with critics, but are largely unknown to American audiences.

This year's panel discussion was devoted to the issues facing foreign-language films and their access to American screens and audiences, and presented as a traditional part of Disappearing Act, the Subtitled Cinema Initiative. Carlos A. Gutiérrez, co-founding director of Cinema Tropical, chaired the panel and was joined by Oana Radu, deputy director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York; Delphine Selles-Alvarez, cinema program officer of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy; and John C. Woo, executive director of Asian CineVision.

Irena Kovarova curated and coproduced Disappearing Act for the Czech Center New York and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York in partnership with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia, the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Goethe-Institut New York, the Hungarian Cultural Center, Instituto Cervantes – The Cultural Center of Spain in New York, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Norwegian Consulate General, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, and the Slovak Film Institute.

Disappearing Act is an official project of EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) with support from the EU Delegation to the UN.

Austrian movies screened as part of this year's Disappearing Act:

Kill Daddy Good Night
(Das Vaterspiel, 2009, Austria)
Directed by Michael Glawogger

Kill Daddy Good Night tells the stories of three families based on the bestselling novel Das Vaterspiel by acclaimed Austrian writer Josef Haslinger: A Jewish family destroyed by Nazi massacres Nazis in Lithuania; the family of the culprit, who fled to America and maintains grotesque family cohesion; the family of Ratz, a social democratic family, dissolving miserably in today's Vienna. The condemnation of the events of the last century, reflected in the stories of these three families, pays tribute to the fact that one can never escape one’s own past. Part thriller, part psychological family drama, part exploration of German–Austrian war guilt, this film by director Michael Glawogger features a musical score by esteemed Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth (Bählamms Fest). The film also includes performance by greats such as Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others) and Otto Tausig (Place Vendôme); producer Sabine Schenk will personally introduce the screening.

Lourdes
(2009, Austria, France, Germany)
Directed and written by Jessica Hausner

In Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, a group of pilgrims, assisted by volunteers from the Order of Malta, travels by bus to Lourdes for the weekend. Several of them are wheelchair-bound, including the young quadriplegic Christine. Maria, a young volunteer assisting her, represents a constant reminder of life‘s simple pleasures and opportunities that are out of reach for Christine. Only a miracle could reverse their roles - and supposedly, miracles happen in Lourdes. But does a person like Christine, who confesses that she travels with pilgrims only because it is a way for her to see the world, deserve one? Sylvie Testud (La Vie en Rose) shines in the part of Christine, and director Jessica Hausner delivers a great comedy of manners in this, her third feature film, which The New York Times' Manohla Dargis called "intelligent, rigorously thoughtful, [and] somewhat sly“.