Fashion.at

11 October 2024

Browsing the Viennale 2024 program: Fashion.at used the Viennale Film Navigator to find films by theme and asked AI for the most interesting costume designs


First of all - the Viennale Film Navigator is great, but not for searching the visual quality of a movie in terms of costumes. Before diving into the Film Navigator and the results of the chat with the AI, a short overview of the festival: The Viennale is Austria's largest and - due to the quality of the program - most important international film festival. The festival for cineastes was founded in 1960 and is organized every year in autumn.

This week the official program for the festival from October 17th to 29th was published as a printed booklet and online. Fashion.at went through the printed booklet first, which is nice, but you have to take your time to read through the descriptions of the 200 or so films to find out which ones you are most interested in. On https://www.viennale.at/en/film-navigator, the Viennale team provides a practical tool, the 'Film Navigator', which makes it easier to plan your personal film schedule. The Viennale Film Navigator is back for the third year and offers festival visitors a personalized way to explore the rich film selection of the Viennale 2024. By answering just six simple questions, users receive customized film recommendations from the extensive program. The tool, developed by the Viennale team and technically implemented by a web agency, has quickly become one of the most popular features on the festival's website. In a phone call with the Viennale this week, Fashion.at was told that the navigator has become a fan favorite over the past two editions. Notably, the statistical data collected by the tool is not used to influence the festival's curation, which is a completely separate editorial process.

The films in this year's festival have been carefully tagged by the Viennale team to ensure that the Navigator provides an engaging and relevant selection for each user. The selection of films reflects the core pillars of the festival: global perspectives, political awareness and social engagement. The Viennale 2024 program emphasizes themes such as
- Political and social reflection in a time of global turmoil,
- The challenges and uncertainties facing young people today,
- Humanity's relationship with the environment, and
- Ethical questions about the role and responsibility of the individual in society.

The Viennale Film Navigator is a great way to experience this carefully curated festival program. It allows users to explore and enjoy the wide range of films that reflect the festival's deep commitment to showcasing diverse global perspectives through cinema.

Fashion.at tested the Viennale Film Navigator and received several movie recommendations such as 'The Room Next Door' directed by Pedro Almodóvar, which is also a good choice for those interested in fashion in film. The outfits selected by costume designer Bina Daigeler for the two main roles played by Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore are explicitly mentioned in several reviews of the film, as the costume design subtly contributes to the overall atmosphere and storytelling. The film was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2024. It will be shown on three days in October, starting on October 18. Details at https://www.viennale.at/en/film/room-next-door.

Fashion.at was interested in more tips on exceptional costume design and asked AI for interesting movies. One of the tips was the historical drama 'The Damned', directed by Roberto Minervini, who won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. Details at https://www.viennale.at/en/film/damned.

Of course, no Viennale would be complete without its own awards. At the festival's closing ceremony on October 29, four awards will be presented. These include the Vienna Film Prize for the best Austrian feature film and the FIPRESCI Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics.

Image: A view through a curtain into the large auditorium of the Gartenbaukino in Vienna. The cinema is one of the main venues of the Viennale 2024 with screenings of films like 'The Room Next Door'. Photo: © Viennale / Alexander Tuma.