You can add Vienna to such names as Cannes, Venice, and Berlin in the big book of European cities with film festivals.
Mind you, there is no “Vienna Film Festival” by name.
There are, however, a lot of film festivals in the city, including the big one…the Viennale.
- See also:
Festival schedule
(The Stadtkino is traditionally one of the Viennale cinemas)
With no guarantee of completeness and accuracy (there’s only one of me)…updated around once a month. Check the links for details and official websites.
| Month | Film Festival |
|---|---|
| June 2023 | Vienna Shorts Kaleidoskop Nuovo Cinema Italia |
| July 2023 | Rathaus Film Festival Kaleidoskop dotdotdot Nuovo Cinema Italia |
| August 2023 | Rathaus Film Festival Shortynale dotdotdot |
| September 2023 | Rathaus Film Festival Slash Vienna Independent Film Festival Blue Danube |
| October 2023 | Slash Viennale |
| November 2023 | Kinder Filmfestival Best Austrian Animation Festival |
| December 2023 | VIFA this human world Best Austrian Animation Festival |
| TBA at time of writing | Queertactics Tricky Women / Tricky Realities Festival du Film Francophone Jewish Film Festival Ethnocineca |
Festival directory
(The Rathaus film festival in front of city hall)
The Viennale
This is the behemoth. The star-studded tiara on the head of the Viennese film scene. And one with a long and illustrious history.
The Viennale is the Vienna International Film Festival and screens around 300 (pre-release) films from around the world. It’s a festival in the truest gala, awards, premieres, and guest stars sense of the concept.
Next dates: October 19th to 31st, 2023
Vienna Shorts Festival
The Vienna Shorts Festival is another prestigious international film festival, one that dedicates itself to the short-form in cinematic creativity.
Films of all flavours participate and expect an extensive programme of surrounding events.
Next dates: June 1st to 6th, 2023
SLASH film festival
Now we’re edging away from Hollywood-style red carpet extravagance to the more offbeat side of the filmmaker’s craft.
The SLASH film festival is about “fantastic” films in both senses of the word…excellent movies, but also ones that play havoc with the concept of reality, poking at the possibilities available to an active imagination, and having a lot of fun while doing so.
Next dates: September 21st to October 1st, 2023
Festival du Film Francophone
Light up a Gauloise and make a pithy comment about philosophy while drinking a full-bodied red. Then abandon ridiculous stereotypes and enjoy the diversity and brilliance of French-speaking cinema.
The Festival du Film Francophone brings together films of all sorts of styles from around the world, united by a common language.
Next dates: TBA (was April 18th to 27th in 2023)
Nuovo Cinema Italia
Similar to the above, Nuovo Cinema Italia focuses on the Italian film world and is now headed for its 21st edition.
Next dates: June 22nd to July 2nd, 2023
Jewish Film Festival
A specialist film festival featuring those productions that tackle issues related to Jewish life. The Jewish Film Festival draws on both Israeli cinema and filmmaking from elsewhere, with supporting talks and events.
Next dates: TBA (was from April 19th to May 3rd in 2023)
Rathaus Film Festival
Not a film festival in the true sense of the word, but a worthy addition to the list since it has a theme and is immensely popular.
The Rathaus Film Festival involves roughly two months of daily open-air evening screenings of music and dance performances on the Rathausplatz square. Think opera and ballet, but with plenty of other genres thrown into the mix.
Equally, the festival comes with an open-air international gourmet paradise attached to it, so you get a treat for both the eyes, ears, and stomach.
Next dates: July 1st to September 3rd, 2023
Related events
The following are also not festivals in the classic sense of the term, but themed annual summer events that might interest you as a visitor:
- Frameout: open-air cinema in the Museumsquartier (July 14th to September 2nd, 2023)
- Stumm & Laut: historical silent films with a live orchestra
- Science Fiction im Park: six days of free open-air viewings with no need to guess the theme of the movies (June 5th to June 10th, 2023)
- Kino am Dach: open-air cinema on the roof of the main city library (June 1st to September 10th, 2023)
Vienna Independent Film Festival
This one does what it says on the box. A festival to showcase independent films and filmmakers across various genres (short films, documentaries, music videos, feature films, etc.).
The event runs in a spirit of progressive creativity, seeking to reward the new, the individual, the visionary, and the talented, rather than the well-financed.
Next dates: September 2nd to 5th, 2023
VIFA
The Vienna International Film Awards is a relatively new film festival that seeks to honour independent film makers and short-form films in numerous categories and genres.
Next dates: December 6th to 10th, 2023
Blue Danube Film Festival
A cross-border Vienna-Budapest-Bratislava film festival for independent films and featuring the full gamut of types and genre with numerous festival awards.
Showings for the Blue Danube film festival take place in all three cities.
Next dates: September 20th to 30th, 2023
Queertactics
A festival featuring both new and historically important productions, Queertactics throws a light on queer and feminist movies from around the world that have yet to be seen in Austria.
The festival carries on the work of the long-running Identities festival.
Next dates: TBA (was November 9th to 13th in 2022)
Ethnocineca
An international documentary film festival, typically with various world and Austrian premieres, as well as a distinct emphasis on critical examination of social, political and cultural structures through film.
Various awards and events round off the festival, with screenings usually in the Votiv and DeFrance cinemas.
Next dates: May 4th to 11th, 2023
dotdotdot
An open-air festival of short films, dotdotdot features screenings and talks at Vienna’s Volkskundemuseum. The ambiance is delightful.
The event places special emphasis on inclusiveness and accessibility in the widest sense of the words. For example, the visitor determines how much to pay for admission.
Next dates: July 30th to August 29th, 2023
Tricky Women / Tricky Realities
Another well-established event, Tricky Women / Tricky Realities focuses on animated films made by women, thus occupying a rather unique spot in the pantheon of film festivals.
As with so many of its colleagues in Vienna, the festival has an international scope and complements screenings and the competition with workshops, talks and discussions around relevant themes.
Next dates: TBA (was March 8th to 12th in 2023)
this human world
A human rights film festival and part of the cultural landscape in Vienna since 2008. this human world (no capitals) shows both national and international documentaries and movies that address relevant issues. Often a good source of films that might not otherwise find their way to Austria.
The festival also includes topical workshops, panels, and other ancillary events.
Next dates: December 1st to 11th, 2023
Kaleidoskop
An open-air summer cinematic festival with a focus on representations of urban life. Curated by the CineCollective, showings include an accompanying programme which might feature , for example, interviews, readings and concerts.
Like the dotdotdot festival, Kaleidoskop also has a strong emphasis on diversity, inclusiveness and accessibility.
Next dates: June 30th to July 14th, 2023
Best Austrian Animation Festival
The festival title says it all, really. The event centres around the ASIFA AUSTRIA Award/Best Austrian Animation competition, with (obviously) a clear focus on Austrian animation.
Next dates: November 27th to December 2nd, 2023
Kinder Filmfestival
The Vienna International Children’s Film Festival focuses on quality films whose target audience is the younger generation.
Next dates: November 11th to 19th, 2023
Shortynale
This festival for short films is technically not a Vienna festival, but located in Klosterneuburg (a small town that borders Vienna). Showcases films up to 30 minutes in length from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein,
Next dates: August 15th to 19th