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.
- Swap movies for Mozart with a light classical concert* in Vienna
- 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 |
|---|---|
| March 2026 | – Tricky Women / Tricky Realities – Festival du Film Francophone |
| April 2026 | – Jewish Film Festival – Red Lotus |
| June 2026 | – Nuovo Cinema Italia |
| May 2026 | – Vienna Shorts |
| July 2026 | – Rathaus Film Festival – Nuovo Cinema Italia |
| August 2026 | – Rathaus Film Festival – dotdotdot |
| September 2026 | – Rathaus Film Festival – Vienna Independent Film Festival |
| October 2026 | – Viennale |
| November 2026 | – Viennale |
| TBA (at time of writing) | – Kaleidoskop – UNDER_the_RADAR – Ethnocineca – Wiener Arbeitsfilmfestival – Architektur.Film.Sommer – Shortynale – Slash – Queerfilmfestival – Austrian Independent Film Festival – Blue Danube – Queertactics – Children’s Film Festival – Best Austrian Animation Festival – VIFA – this human world |
Festival directory
(The Rathaus film festival occupies space 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 22nd to November 3rd, 2026
Vienna Shorts Festival
(An open-air screening as part of a previous festival; press photo © Vienna Shorts, Hanna Pribitzer)
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: May 26th to 31st, 2026
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: TBA (was September 18th to 28th in 2025)
Festival du Film Francophone
(The Votivkino usually hosts)
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: March 16th to 27th, 2026
Nuovo Cinema Italia
Similar to the above, Nuovo Cinema Italia focuses on the Italian film world.
Next dates: June 18th to July 3rd, 2026
Jewish Film Festival
(Exhibition poster from a previous event)
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: April 9th to 19th, 2026
Red Lotus
A festival dedicated to showcasing the work of filmmakers from all over Asia. Red Lotus covers both feature films and documentaries.
Next dates: April 23rd to 26th
Rathaus Film Festival
(Evening showings in front of historical architecture; press photo © stadtwienmarketing & Johannes Wiedl)
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 4th to September 6th, 2026
Other similar film events
(The MuseumsQuartier hosts Frameout)
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
- 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
- Kino am Dach: open-air cinema on the roof of the main city library
- Kino am Schloss: open-air cinema at Schloss Neugebäude
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 14th to 16th, 2026
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: TBA (was December 5th to 8th in 2025)
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: TBA (was November 22nd to 30th in 2025)
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 12th to 16th in 2025)
Queerfilmfestival
Showings of the best queer films of the year (including documentaries). Numerous cities in Germany also participate in the Queerfilmfestival.
Next dates: TBA (was September 4th to 10th in 2025)
Ethnocineca
(A filmmaking discussion at a previous Ethnocineca; press photo © Maximilian Rosenberger)
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: TBA (was May 8th to 14th in 2025)
dotdotdot
(The historical palais hosting the Volkskundemuseum venue is now undergoing major renovation)
An open-air festival of short films, dotdotdot features screenings and talks behind Vienna’s Volkskundemuseum. The ambience is delightful. However, dotdotdot moves to another location in 2025 thanks to renovation work in the museum.
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: August, 2026
Tricky Women / Tricky Realities
(Press photo © Tricky Women Tricky Realities 2025 Festival Trailer, Noémie Marsily, AT 2024)
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: March 11th to 15th, 2026
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: November 27th to December 6th, 2025
Austrian Independent Film Festival
An annual festival focusing on mid-length and short indie films, with numerous award categories. Most films from Austria but plenty of international submissions, too
Next dates: TBA (was October 10th to 11th in 2025)
Kaleidoskop
(Showings typically take place on the square in front of the Karlskirche church)
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: TBA (was June 30th to July 14th in 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: TBA (was November 24th to 29th in 2025)
UNDER_the_RADAR
A festival inviting imaginative use of the media, since UNDER_the_RADAR covers “artistic film, animation and experimental sequential media”.
Next dates: TBA (was March 20th to 24th in 2025)
Kinder Filmfestival
The Vienna International Children’s Film Festival focuses on quality films whose target audience is the younger generation.
Next dates: TBA (was November 15th to 23rd in 2025)
Architektur.Film.Sommer
(The 2023 festival in the AZW courtyard; press photo by and © Pablo Leiva)
Open-air architectural film festival with a curated selection of documentaries and other film genres. Takes place outside the Architekturzentrum Wien in the MuseumsQuartier.
Next dates: TBA (was Wednesdays, July 30th to August 20th in 2025)
Shortynale
This festival for short films is technically not a Vienna festival, but located in Klosterneuburg (a small town that borders Vienna) on a square close to the wonderful abbey. Showcases films up to 30 minutes in length from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein,
Next dates: TBA (was August 12th to 16th in 2025)
Wiener Arbeitsfilmfestival
The festival title translates to the Viennese Work film festival, and the event celebrates its first edition in 2025.
The Arbeitsfilmfestival features artistic and sociocritical explorations of the world of work and training in both fictional and documentary film. Discussions add a dynamic element to the programme.
Next dates: TBA (was May 19th to 23rd in 2025)
Finally…
…if you’re simply looking for general film showings in English, try this advice.