27.03.2025 – 01.04.2025
Thanks to the Diagonale, Graz becomes the film capital of the country once a year and is the place to experience the diversity of Austrian filmmaking across all genres and aesthetic styles. The festival of Austrian film is once again under the direction of Dominik Kamalzadeh and Claudia Slanar. ‘With Diagonale 2025, the second edition for which we are responsible, we promise to stay the course. A little consistency is a must. This much in advance: this year we can boast a particularly large number of premieres and international appeal once again. The next generation of filmmakers will make their voices heard even more. The festival will remain a place of unexpected encounters, exchange and orientation towards new horizons. Debates and celebrations will once again take place in the Volkskundemuseum’s Heimatsaal; in the cinemas, people can marvel, reflect and laugh. All under the premise that Austrian film, with its broad spectrum, has its finger on the pulse of the times and remains a seismograph for socio-political change.’ – Dominik Kamalzadeh & Claudia Slanar, Festival Director.
Opening film
The Diagonale opens with How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World by Florian Pochlatko The film’s heroine, Pia, is in her mid-20s and has just been released from a psychiatric ward: The world is a disaster, and Pia’s head is in a similar state. Spit back into ‘normal’ life, she has to navigate between her parents, ex-boyfriend and other demons. Rivers overflow their banks, forests are on fire, and we continue to stick our forks in our pasta, drink red wine and pretend that everything is fine. In a world where everything is already too much when viewed soberly, everyone lives in their own reality, it seems. And Pia lives in many …
Diagonale‘25
Festival of Austrian Film Graz
27.03.2025 – 01.04.2025
www.diagonale.at
