The world of documentary filmmaking drops into Vienna at Ethnocineca, a long-standing film festival with a notable international flavour.
- Usually around 50 screenings
- Themed showings from different countries & continents
- Talks, discussions & awards, too
- Typically films in English or with English subtitles
- Next dates: TBA (taking a break in 2026)
- Book a concert experience* for your trip
- See also:
International documentaries
(The audience enjoying a showing; press photo © Maximilian Rosenberger)
Austria may be a relatively small country but its capital has a population over 2 million. Add in Vienna’s cultural reputation, and you can understand why we have so many film festivals here.
One of the major ones is Ethnocineca: a week-long international festival now approaching its 20th edition and dedicated to documentary and ethnographic filmmaking (both full length and shorts).
The international emphasis becomes clear when you see a typical line up for the films and speakers at side events.
The programme for a past edition, for example, featured almost 50 films representing something like 34 countries: from Austria to Argentina. And that programme included two world premieres.
The films fall into different collated themes but tend to reflect the ethnographic origins of the festival.
You might, for example, gain insights into the experiences of political prisoners in Iran or a grasshopper enterprise in Uganda. Explore the issues around skin whitening or discover the on-the-ground realities of life in the Karabakh region.
In other words, a diverse cornucopia certain to broaden your perspective and understanding.
Awards & Events
(A filmmaking discussion; press photo © Maximilian Rosenberger)
As with any leading event of this kind, Ethnocineca has various awards to give out at a festival-ending ceremony. These include, for example, the International Documentary Award and the Austrian Documentary Award.
A supporting programme of events also accompanies the festival, covering talks and panel discussions on aspects of documentary filmmaking and its wider context. Given the international scope of the festival, you’re quite likely to find these held in English.
Dates, tickets & tips
Ethnocineca takes a break in 2026, so the future may bring changes. For the record, the previous edition ran from May 8th to May 14th. Tickets were available from the participating cinemas.
Check the official website for full details of the event, programme and similar, once available. The festival films usually have English subtitles or use English original dialogue. Listings may use the OmeU tag, which is short for “Originalversion mit englischsprachigen Untertiteln” (original language with English subtitles).
For other film festivals throughout the Viennese cinematic year, check this list. And for more casual big-screen viewing, take a peek at these English-language cinemas (we have several).
Screening locations
In 2025, screenings took place at two sister cinemas: Votiv Kino (Währinger Straße 12) and Kino De France (Schottenring 5), which are both notably central and within a short walk of each other.
The De France, for example, is next to the central Schottentor station (subway line U2 and trams 1, D, 71, 37, 38, 40, 41 and 42).
The Votiv Kino is just up from De France; walk or go one stop on the 37, 38, 40, 41 or 42 trams from Schottentor.