By Daniel Bickermann. The small republic in the Alps has always had a kind of split personality when it came to cinema: Notoriously limited resources and hair-raising censorship laws couldn't prevent Austria to produce a whole flock of world famous filmmakers and stars – which pretty fast emigrated into the wide world; although they share a common language with Germany, one of the biggest European sales market for films, they hardly manage to sell their films abroad; and although the cultural institutions are fascinating, the interest of the public as well as of the politicians in film has had extremes ups and downs.

The early years and the emigration problem

The beginning was a bumpy ride. The partially grotesque censorship conditions of the „k.u.k.“ monarchy before World War I, when theatre actors were not allowed to perform in movies and the visit of a cinema was sometimes deemed illegal altogether, slowed the first Austrian feature film productions down until around 1910. Paradoxically the industry profited from the (lost) First World War, when foreign films were banned in Austria, so that the domestic film production could into the post-war period invigorated, and was able to churn out up to 140 features every year due to massive international sales. This number would of course drop over the years, until it bottomed out at around 30 films per year in the late 30s.

The early inter-mixture with the German film industry then demonstrated a trend that would hold until this day: The Austrian film industry with its limited resources has always been a size too small for the true masters of the art. One of the first to land international success was Viennese-born director Fritz Lang, who wrote history with his films for the German Ufa and later went to Hollywood. During the Third Reich this list of Austrian emigrants would also include the names of Fred Zinnemann, Erich von Stroheim, Billy Wilder, Hedy Lamarr, Peter Lorre, Otto Preminger and Edgar G. Ulmer.

Those left behind could watch the first talkies, the famous Viennese musicals and South Tyrol-born mountain movie maker Luis Trenker, before the Austrian Civil War broke loose and the Fascists gained control over the Austrian film industry years before the official “Anschluss” of the nation, empowered by threats of banning films and other pressuring measures. Until 1945 Austria belonged to the centralized German industry that produced comedies, propaganda pictures and sentimental films with the romantic regional background of the Alps. The partially absurd censorship policies of the monarchy came back from 1941 on, this time in the guise of Nazi directives which for exampled banned marriage without children, smoking and certain character names from the screen.

The hard way back to the top

After film production resumed in the early 50s, the “internal emigration“, i.e. the concentration on historical biopics, harmless comedies, revues on ice, operettas and regional-sentimental cinema continued, with the production output steady between 20 and 30 films annually. Just like in Germany it wasn't until the generation of 1968, that a New Austrian Cinema emerged that oriented itself on the auteur theory and the first film schools. And just like in the neighbouring country it were audience-friendly comedies that first marked the end of the long commercial slump, paving the way for a revolution of quality. Films like MÜLLERS BÜRO or HINTERHOLZ 8 became bona fide blockbusters in Austria, without making any kind of splash outside the borders. And the flight of the talents continued, of course: From Klaus Maria Brandauer and Romy Schneider to Christoph Waltz, from Xaver Schwarzenberger to Arnold Schwarzenegger – established artists in every profession in film went searching for their destiny far away.

A Golden Generation

The new millennium has made the schizophrenia of the Austrian film culture more obvious than ever. On the one hand institutions like the film festival Viennale or the splendid Austrian Film Museum have managed to spark a cineast renaissance in the republic – on the other hand the domestic films languish in the area of two to seven per cent of the Austrian box-office market share. Also, on the one hand the politicians seem to steadily loose interest in their vital function of funding films – on the other hand are the emigrated Austrian filmmakers and actors who had a string of successes in the last decade that may well be unrivalled: Ulrich Seidl won the Venice Jury Price in 2001 for DOG DAYS. Michael Glawogger snatched up the German as well as the European Film Award as best documentary for WORKINGMAN’S DEATH. In 2008 Stefan Ruzowitzky's THE COUNTERFEITERS won the Foreign Language Oscar – as the first Austrian film ever. In the meantime the famous stand-up comic and film actor Josef Hader received several international acting gongs, like in 2000 in Locarno.

And all of that was even before 2009 – a year the Austrian film industry won't be in a hurry to forget: In that year Jessica Hausner received no less than four awards in Venice for LOURDES (after she had bagged a Jury Award in Cannes in 1999); Götz Spielmann's REVANCHE earned an Oscar nomination and two awards at the Berlinale; where, incidentally, Austrian Birgit Minichmayr took home the Silver Bear as best actress; at the same time; Erwin Wagenhofer's LET’S MAKE MONEY won the German Film Award as best documentary. And then there was Michael Haneke, who during his career so far has received no less than eight awards in Cannes and who made his crowning achievement with THE WHITE RIBBON, which not only won the Palm d'Or, but every possible European Film Award. And 2010? That was the year Viennes-born Christoph Waltz won the Best Actor Award in Cannes and the Oscar for his exuberant portrayal of the SS villain in Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS – which was, by the way, the first Oscar triumph for a German speaking actor since Maximilian Schell – who was also born and raised in Austria. So these are the days that Austria can witness a golden generation of filmmakers showering the small republic in the Alps with prestigious awards, international recognition and, most important of all, really great films – although the film industry in their country of origin is still a size too small for them.

Links

• BORDER (A 2009. Eni Brandner)