FNE: What was the most important development in your country's film industry over the past year?
Roland Teichmann: The rising of our total budget from 16.5 m EUR to 20 m EUR.
How important are European coproductions for the development of your country's film industry, especially with the neighbouring countries of the central European region?
Very important! As a rather small but vital film country, we depend upon coproductions, especially when budget dimensions lie above 2.5 m EUR.
What is the policy on digitalization of cinemas in Austria and where are you now in this process?
The biggest cinema and distribution chain started the digitalisation without public funding schemes many years ago. Later, federal and regional schemes helped to digitalize especially smaller art house cinemas. At the moment, about two-thirds of all 577 screens in Austria (68%) are digitalized, which is a very high rate.
How do you see the role of the Austria in the EU’s new Creative Europe in 2014?
Hopefully as an active player benefiting from the new initiatives.
Do you see the numbers of women directors and producers in Austria increasing in the future?
Absolutely, yes! The gender issue is on our to-do list. In our reports, we started to disclose funding commitments to male and female recipients and when taking funding decisions, the gender issue is, apart from the quality of the project, a relevant aspect.
Looking back over the past five years what are the major achievements of the Austrian Film Institute and what do you consider still needs to be done?
Within the last five years, films with our support won two Oscars, two further Oscar nominations, two Golden Globes, two Golden Palms, in total around 100 prizes at about 1,500 festivals, among them 90 A-festivals and 23 prizes at A-festivals.
Furthermore, these films reached over 4 m admissions in Austria and over 12 m admissions worldwide. The only thing that needs to be done is trying to stay at a level not far below what we have reached within the last years, and to secure the vitality and quality of filmmaking by especially investing in new talent.
