Re-Opening: Open House

 

The new season at the Film Museum will begin with an Open House Day on October 3. This will be the first time the newly renovated cinema will be open to the public. Aside from the auditorium, which has been outfitted with new seating, the lobby has been redesigned and a new bar area was added.

 

The cinema auditorium was built in the years following the Second World War; it has been used by the Austrian Film Museum since 1965 and was redesigned by Peter Kubelka as an "invisible cinema" in 1989. It was completely renovated during the summer months of 2003. Thanks to the subtle architectural concept realized by Friedrich Mascher and Erich Steinmayr, the effect of the black auditorium as a kind of minimalistic "Modern Showcase" is more pronounced than before as a space which focuses entirely on an ideal presentation of the medium of film and an equally ideal reception of this medium for the audience.  The rows of wooden seats were replaced by Italian soft furniture, the screen was enlarged, obstructions in the line of sight were eliminated, and contemporary systems of lighting, ventilation and security were installed. Combined with the renewal and extension of the sound and projection systems in 2002, the Film Museum now boasts an entirely renovated presentation venue with vastly improved spatial and technical quality which lives up to the highest international standards.

 

A new concept was devised for the entrance area in order to create a more suitable atmosphere prior to and after the film screenings. As an extension to the renovated foyer, a bar and a small shop, both premieres in the history of the Film Museum, offer an enjoyable place to linger over a drink or browse.

 

On the Open House Day there will be more to see than just the newly restructured space; some of the Film Museum's film treasures will also be on view. On October 3, from 2 p.m. until well past midnight, important new acquisitions and stand-out pillars of the collection, plus the Film Museum's most recently restorations can be seen, including films by Laurel & Hardy, Dziga Vertov, John Ford, Jean-Luc Godard, Lewis Klahr and others. The restorations include Tabu: Takes & Outtakes (1931/2003), a sensational "bonus track" to Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's South Seas epic Tabu, presented by Enno Patalas, who was in charge of this restoration on behalf of the Film Museum and the Cineteca di Bologna. Untitled (1996/2003), a found footage film edited by Peter Kubelka, will have its first public showing.