May | June 2012
May 11 to June 17, 2012
Olivier Assayas. The Complete Works
With two new publications and a retrospective of his work, the Austrian Film Museum pays tribute to an artist who, over the past three decades, has established himself as one of the most extraordinary voices in cinema. For Olivier Assayas, film is the art of constant upheaval, of restlessness, and accordingly, his work can’t be easily labeled. Between his first feature Désordre (1986) and such major works as Irma Vep (1996), Les Destinées sentimentales (2000) demonlover (2002) and, most recently, L’Heure d’été (2008) and Carlos (2010), he has charted an exciting and highly dialectical path, “embracing narrative and character, dealing with the fragmentary reality of life in a global economy, and, at the same time, crafting what amounts to an ongoing, passionate spiritual autobiography.“ (Kent Jones).[...]
June 7 to 15, 2012
Provoking Reality
The Oberhausen Manifesto. 50 Years Later
The Oberhausen Manifesto is one of the most important documents in the history of European film movements. On February 28, 1962, twenty-six young filmmakers declared that "daddy's cinema is dead“ and, in a mixture of unbridled pathos and obliterating diagnosis, reclaimed the right to create a new cinema. Ever since, this moment has been regarded as the "big bang" of "New German Cinema."[...]
The Utopia of Film
Chapter 64
Works by Cameron Crowe, Joseph Kohn, Murray Lerner, Richard Lester, Albert & David Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Charlotte Zwerin[...]
May 25 to June 17, 2012
King Hu
If King Hu had never existed, the history of international film would be viewed differently today: without A Touch of Zen (1971) or Raining in the Mountain (1979), Chinese martial arts cinema would likely still be waiting for recognition from mainstream film critics and historians. To put it another way: King Hu was the key to unlocking the study and exegesis of an entire popular culture. Bruce Lee had turned this culture into a true Sixties and Seventies pop phenomenon - but Hu's films were the first to be critically revered. For many, these works confirmed what had previously just been a vague impression - that there was a lot more going on in martial arts cinema that the spectacular elimination of as many opponents as possible. Thus, King Hu joined the ranks of genre artists who cut a wide swath.[...]
DVD Release
James Benning: casting a glance | RR
What is Film
Programme 5-9
Works by Emile Cohl, Bruce Conner, Charles Dekeukeleire, Aleksandr Dovženko, Marcel Duchamp, Viking Eggeling, Joris Ivens, Fernand Léger, Georges Méliès, Robert Nelson, Man Ray, Hans Richter, Leni Riefenstahl, Jack Smith, Dziga Vertov[...]
