Viennale 2004

"Los Muertos"
"Down to the Bone"

At Viennale, showcase for worldwide independent cinema, our jury awarded the FIPRESCI Prize ex aequo to two films: Los Muertos by the Argentinean filmmaker Lisandro Alonso; and Down to the Bone by Debra Granik from the US. The jury writes: "Both winners — from a choice of a range of international debuts or second feature films — offer a closer look at the fringes of civilization and a populus the world would rather forget. The incomparable relation of form and content of both films, however, made a splitting of the price the strongest statement possible. Los Muertos is rewarded for its hypnotic fascination with the real, Down to the Bone for its frank and emotionally precise treatment of 'human' and 'animal' fragility." The jury (Dana Linssen, Gabe Klinger, HC Leitich) had invited Charles Leary and Andy Rector to join its debates — the two young critics who attended the Talent Press Project organized by Viennale and FIPRESCI (see here ).
Details of the Prize

The Fascination with the Real. Hans Christian Leitich compares the two films winning the FIPRESCI prize, Los Muertos and Down to the Bones. "The question of comparability came up because there are specific basic similarities in the construction of the plots of the two finalists."
Filmmaking at the Kerb. Viennale hosted works by Paul Fejos, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Vlado Kristl, Jem Cohen, David Fenster — and Agnès Varda, "whose shorts, new and old, wherever shown, have the tendency to make everything else look awkward and unnecessary in comparison", writes Gabe Klinger.
Where the Wind Manages to Replace the Dialogue. Hans Christian Leitich writes on two world premieres: 13 Lakes (James Benning) and Trona (David Fenster) — "two small-scale and rather eccentric productions from the United States".
From the "Authors' Politics" To The "Politics of Writing". At this year's Viennale the Austrian film magazine "Kolik" hosted a panel on film mediation and film publishing, called "Über Film schreiben" (Writing on Cinema). "Why are we doing this, and how?". Dana Linssen on film criticism
A King in his Domain. "As the auspicious lead in Arnaud Desplechin's Comment je dispute... (Ma vie sexuelle), Mathieu Amalric found a role relevant to his own generation. Ten years later, him and Desplechin are still in sync with one another's sensibilities, and have turned Amalric's role into a more comical, though more problematic and regressive, character in his latest, Kings and Queen." Gabe Klinger met the actor

The Talent Press Project. The Viennale had invited two young critics, Charles Leary and Andi Rector, to be engaged in a training and writing program tutored by the members of our jury, Dana Linssen, Gabe Klinger and Hans Christian Leitich. Read their daily reports and interviews, among others on Jean.Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, on Lauren Bacall's visit to Vienna, on the Taiwanese actor and director Lee Kang-sheng — and on films, films, films...

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