12 October 2025  Austria's Most Important Film Festival Returns for Its 63rd EditionFounded in 1960, the Viennale is Austria's largest international film event and one of Europe's most distinguished film festivals. Each autumn, it transforms Vienna's historic city centre into a hub of world cinema. The 63rd edition takes place from 16 to 28 October 2025, presenting a rich selection of films that blend aesthetic individuality with political and cultural awareness. The Viennale's program includes new international productions, national and world premieres, special programs, and retrospectives curated with the Austrian Film Museum. It also offers lectures, concerts, and discussions that turn Vienna into a cinematic conversation space.Five Cinemas, One Strolling Distance – and a Bar to Meet the WorldScreenings are held at five traditional venues in Vienna's 1st district – all within walking distance: Gartenbaukino, Urania, Metro Kinokulturhaus, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, and Filmcasino. Just a short stroll away, the Viennale Meeting Point at the Intermezzo Bar of Hotel InterContinental Vienna opens daily from 6 pm to 2 am. The elegant bar becomes the social core of the festival — a place where filmmakers, journalists, and cinema lovers meet over classic cocktails beneath a shimmering chandelier.Stars, Stories, and the Art of LightAmong the guests of this year's festival are Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, and Lars Eidinger, lending international glamour to the Viennese autumn. Eidinger, who also stars in Edgar Reitz's new film Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting, will take to the DJ booth for the Viennale Club Night on Friday, 17 October at PRST Club at Praterstrasse, immediately following the film's premiere.The full festival program is now available online. Fashion.at tested the Viennale Film Navigator, a digital guide that helps visitors discover films by mood and theme. Selecting Society and Lifestyle and Entertain Me led to the philosophical and visually rich Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting (Germany 2025). The film portrays Dutch painter Aaltje van der Meer, commissioned by Queen Charlotte of Prussia to paint her mentor Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — a dialogue on art, thought, and representation unfolds. Screenings are scheduled for 17 October (6 pm, Gartenbaukino) and 23 October (11 am, Urania), with the director and cast — Edgar Reitz, Aenne Schwarz, Lars Eidinger, and Salome Kammer — present at the premiere. The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM), an official festival partner, links cinema and fine arts through a special tour accompanying the film. The event, titled Masterpieces of a Different Perspective, explores the exhibition Michaelina Wautier, Painter and the parallels between Wautier's female gaze and the painter in Leibniz. Tours take place on 17 and 24 October at 4:30 pm, with free registration available on the festival's website viennale.at. Cinematic Light and ReflectionThe Viennale celebrates film as a mirror of society — an art form that both illuminates and questions. In the interplay between camera, canvas, and character, stories unfold that challenge conventions and offer new perspectives on history and humanity. Just as a painter once sought to capture the soul of a philosopher, filmmakers today continue to set their subjects — and us — in the light of discovery.Image: Audience seated in a darkened cinema watching the opening screen of the Viennale, Vienna’s International Film Festival. Photo: © Viennale/Robert Newald |