Diagonale
The festival was directed by filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky in 1993 and 1994, and Heinrich Mis (then director of the ORF program Kunst-Stücke [de]) in 1995.
The planning for the Diagonale 2004 initially began with a scandal, as Franz Morak, the State Secretary for the Arts responsible for the event, dismissed the previous program directors without explanation, despite their excellent performance, and replaced them with a new team without seeking consensus with the filmmakers concerned.
After a restructuring of the sponsoring association and the willingness of numerous participants to volunteer, the Diagonale 2004 was able to take place in its usual form despite time pressure.
The background to Morak's intervention in the directorship is thought to be an attempt to make a more commercially oriented readjustment of the festival as well as a politically motivated "act of retaliation" against the film scene and the festival management, because the Diagonale positioned itself as a forum for anti-government protests and video works a few weeks after the controversial formation of the coalition between FPÖ and ÖVP in 2000.
In the course of the controversy at the time over a petition printed in the festival catalog by numerous well-known filmmakers demanding the resignation of the government, the then Styrian regional councilor Hirschmann (ÖVP) even temporarily withheld the promised prize money from the state of Styria.
In cooperation with the Kunsthaus Graz, the Diagonale also organized a highlight of the festival: In a tribute to the artist Maria Lassnig, her complete cinematic oeuvre was shown in newly restored copies.
[5] With around 24,800 visitors, the Diagonale 2010 (March 16 to 21) was able to draw a positive conclusion after six festival days and 147 films and videos shown.
One of the highlights of the festival was the internationally acclaimed Peter Schreiner "Personale", which presented and honored the documentary work of the Austrian filmmaker in a concentrated form.
Special historical programs focused on the almost forgotten work of auteur filmmaker Mansur Madavi and on that of cinematographer Günther Krampf, who was forced into exile.
Two exhibitions also took place as part of the Diagonale 2010 program: "SILENT ALIEN GHOST MACHINE MUSEUM" by Norbert Pfaffenbichler at Kunstverein Medienturm and "brRRMMMWHee – extended version" by Billy Roisz at Kunsthaus Graz.
Director and cinematographer Elfi Mikesch, a representative of European auteur cinema with Austrian roots, presented her two most recent works at the festival.
Other specials were devoted to the Viennese animation film festival "Tricky Women" and filmmaker Linda Christanell.
As part of the opening, Johannes Silberschneider received the Grand Diagonale Acting Prize for his services to Austrian film culture.
The highlights of the festival also included a "Personale" dedicated to the legendary avant-garde filmmaker Ferry Radax, which made his groundbreaking work accessible to a wider audience once again with a concentrated selection of films.
The Israeli documentary filmmaker Avi Mograbi, was represented not only by a comprehensive film retrospective but also by the video installation "Details".
The special program Carl Mayer Screenwriting Prize 2017 "Shooting Women II" on female forms of documentary, the historical special on US actor and cinematographer Charles Korvin in the series "FilmExil" as well as the eagerly awaited revival of Michael Synek's Die toten Fische from 1989 were also well received by the audience.
[6] After a cinematic year marked by major international successes for Austrian film, attention at the 2013 Diagonale focused on the numerous promising productions by young filmmakers, whose individual approaches provided a breath of fresh air.
Highlights also included the presentation of Ulrich Seidl's Paradise Trilogy as a complete work and two "Personale" dedicated to Josef Dabernig and Michaela Grill.
The continuation of the "FilmExil" series focused on the film work of Viennese director, screenwriter, and producer Paul Czinner.
The 17th edition of the Diagonale opened in Graz with the Austrian premiere of Johannes Holzhausen's documentary Das große Museum.
In a petition addressed to the governing parties and the management of the ORF, numerous representatives of the film industry warned of the immediate effects of impending funding cuts.
Other specials were devoted to the rediscovered TV series Draußen in der Stadt, written by Günter Brödl, and to the two filmmakers Florian Flicker and Michael Glawogger, who had died the year before.
Two new program tracks, a new image, increased cooperation with local initiatives and institutions, and a newly established festival district contributed to the renewal.
The provocatively titled historical special program "Austria: Forget it" was dedicated to a central phase of Austrian film and contemporary history: the Waldheim years.
U.S. director Ana Lily Amirpour presented her latest work The Bad Batch in Graz and held a master class.
The new discussion format "Diagonale im Dialog" brought illustrious personalities of the film world to the festival cinemas for extended talks.
In 2018, the Diagonale took place from March 13 to 18, with the opening film being Murer – Anatomy of a Trial [de] by Christian Frosch.
The 2021 edition, originally scheduled for March 16 to 21, was to open with the feature film Fuchs im Bau [de] by Arman T.
It goes back to an initiative by Bernhard Frankfurter and is the most highly endowed screenwriting prize in Austria with 15,000 euros (since 1999, when it was increased to 200,000 schillings).
In addition, the fictional or documentary material must be elaborated in a way suitable for cinema, the story must be true to life, well researched and well thought out, and the cinematographic potential must be exploited in all its facets, including formally.
