Screenings of the award-winning films on Sunday evening brought the 16th edition of Diagonale Film Festival in Graz to a close with a record number of visitors in attendance.
Between the 12th and 17th of March, the Austrian film festival showed a total of 156 films, 98 of which were registered in the competition. There were 38 world premieres and 21 Austrian premieres on the program. A total of 101 directors were personally present for the screening of their films. With packed cinemas and sold-out seats, the 2013 Diagonale is delighted to see an ever-increasing turnout. The 2013 festival had 25,050 visitors, 1,300 more than the previous year. The main attractions proved to be the Industry Meeting, the Live-Performance by special guest Michaela Grill and the eagerly anticipated premieres. Apart from the cinema, workshop talks and podium discussions provided much enjoyment, as well as Josef Dabernig's Panorama exhibition and the Nightline, which kept the festival center Kunsthaus Graz entertained well into the early hours.
The festival program reflected the superior quality of contemporary Austrian filmmaking in a discerning selection of works. Following a year of international acclaim, Diagonale's attention was turned to the great number of promising works by young filmmakers, whose unique approach provided a breath of fresh air to the occasion. As always, the festival served as a hub of exchange between the film industry and the general public. Among the highlights were the presentation of Ulrich Seidl's Paradise-Trilogy as a complete work and the spotlight features of Josef Dabernig and Michaela Grill. German film director Dominik Graf’s appearance in Graz served as an exceptional glimpse into his outstanding body of works. The Special Programs also found a great reception at the festival, and approximately 150 industry professionals gave positive feedback at this year's meeting for “Models of Story and Project Development.”
This year's Diagonale gave out prizes in the total sum of €155,000. At the awards ceremony, 18 film prizes were awarded, amongst which were the two Grand Prizes, worth €21,000 each, for Best Film and Best Documentary. The award for Best Austrian Feature Film went to Der Glanz des Tages (The Shine of Day) by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel. Fahrtwind – Aufzeichnungen einer Reisenden (Fair Wind – Notes of a Traveller) by Bernadette Weigel won the Grand Diagonale Prize and three further awards in the documentary film category. The prize for Innovative Film went to FORÊT D'EXPÉRIMENTATION by Michaela Grill. Marco Antoniazzi and Gregor Stadlober received this year’s Audience Award for their documentary film Schlagerstar. This year's acting prizes went to Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg for her role in Soldate Jeannette (directed by Daniel Hoesl) and Johannes Nussbaum for his role in (directed by Peter Kern). Maria Hofstätter received the Grand Diagonale Acting Prize at the outset of the festival for her contributions to Austrian film culture. You can find a complete, detailed listing of the 2013 Diagonale Prizes at: www.diagonale.at/presse or at www.diagonale.at/film-awards/
The 2014 Diagonale will take place from the 18th to the 23rd of March.
