The 23rd edition of Vienna Shorts presents more than 352 films from 66 countries – in competitions, retrospectives, late-night screenings, and live events, as well as thematic programs and screenings for young audiences.
Program
12:00, 16:00 & 20:00: Hearing and Listening, Attention to Sound
We hear and we listen. Just like the protagonists of the films as they take in and catalog their surroundings: birdsong, other people’s conversations, everyday noises, machines, the atmosphere of the places. There are two teenagers coming to terms with the loss of a friend; an older man who wants to break through his loneliness through recordings; a person capturing the sounds of the Ladipo car market in Lagos. They decisively direct our attention to sound, both in our surroundings and in the cinema.
Curated by Max
BergmannVenue: Milieukino in the MQ Main
CourtyardTickets available directly at
Milieukino1:00 PM, 5:00 PM & 9:00 PM: A Shift in Perspective, Changing Images, and New
MeaningsWhat lies behind the images when we shift our focus? Three films show how a change in perspective opens up new layers of meaning. First in Edward Serotta’s photographs from Romania and the counter-shot from the surveillance files. Then in an analog find and the evolution of images into the digital, the unreal. Finally, modern technology reveals old layers in paintings and, with them, the precarious working conditions of artists then and now. In this shift in perspective, we see the images as changeable and new.
Venue: Milieukino in the MQ Main Courtyard
Tickets available directly from Milieukino
2:00 PM, 6:00 PM & 10:00 PM: Touching Traces, On the Things That Remain
A sketch of a quiet moment on a postcard from the front. A favorite cup. Plants we’ve cared for. An unmade bed. Three films draw our attention to the silent witnesses of life. Once-beloved and cherished objects that carry abstract memories and emotional significance, evoking a sense of wonder and sadness that is familiar to us all in the face of death. Things left behind bear traces of peace, are testimonies to war, and offer clues to those everyday, human moments we call life.
Venue: Milieukino in the MQ Main Courtyard
Tickets available directly from Milieukino
4:30 PM: CinemAperitivo, The Industry Get-Together
The day’s industry activities are winding down, and the afternoon at the cinema is slowly giving way to the bustling festival evening. This is the perfect time to raise a glass together at a cozy CinemAperitivo, get to know each other better, and engage in more in-depth conversation. From Wednesday through Saturday, we invite you daily at 4:30 PM, together with a co-hosting partner institution, to the industry get-together with drinks and snacks at the festival bar in the festival center. For Wednesday (May 27), we thank the Film Academy Vienna for their cooperation and wish you a cheerful Happy Hour. Cheers!
Location: Festival Center, Room D
This event is by invitation only or requires accreditation.
9:30 PM: On Watching Over and Being Held, Between Trust and Surrender
On Watching Over and Being Held brings together stories of closeness across distance. A young woman in the Philippines feels her way through memories of her absent mother. In an endless summer, worry spreads over carefree days. Two sisters in New York hold on to each other amid loss and change. In a quiet bowling alley, waiting becomes a moment of encounter, while in an apartment building, two lost souls gently support one another as fate calls upon them. Thus, a quiet space emerges where care and the feeling of being there for one another become palpable.
Venue: Open-air event at the MQ Main Courtyard
Admission is free.
MQ Main Courtyard
