You have to convince three wonderful people for a ridiculous 12 seconds and you’re the new hot shit on the big screen. At least for a very, very short time. And while the Academy’s non-transparent festival always wants to keep its jury a secret, we prefer to brag about it.
Jury Landjäger Kürzestfilm Festival 2024
MARIJA MILOVANOVIC
(C) Dino Bossini
Okay, Marija Milovanovic is not only the perfect jury member, she could – if she hadn’t committed herself to (from our point of view veeeeeeery long) short films – (at least co-)DIRECT the Kürzestfilm Festspiele! Why? Well:
She is a curator and cultural manager, has been working for Vienna Shorts since 2008, where she is co-director of the international Fiction & Documentary competition. In 2018 she founded Lemonade Films, an agency for festival exploitation of Austrian short films, and since 2021 she has been Festival Director of the Vienna Video & Film Festival. She is also a member of the Berlinale Generation selection committee in the short film section.
Wow.
ARMAN T. RIAHI
(C) Dino Bossini
As lovers of the shortest things, we have to take off our hats to this director and screenwriter: Back in 2005 (9 years before our festival!), he conjured up episodes for the ‘Sendung ohne Namen’ from the shortest snippets.
What he has retained in his feature-length films is his ‘sharp humour’ (taz) and his ‘penchant for unusual perspectives’ (Tittelbach). And when he’s not using his talent to win another award (2023 the main prize in the screenplay competition ‘If She Can See It, She Can Be It’, 2021 three awards for ‘Fuchs im Bau’ and 2017 audience award ‘Die Migrantigen’ at the Max Ophüls Festival), or shooting a new super series (‘I don’t work here’), he naturally prefers to devote himself to the shortest film format: as a juror at the Kürzestfilm Festspiele!
LENI GRUBER
(C) Ira & John
For many filmmakers, Hollywood is a dream, but for Leni Gruber, this dream has become a reality. Because self-reliance is the thing, the director and screenwriter simply made her Hollywood-worthy short film herself together with Alex Reinberg. Just ‘Hollywood’. And the international festivals (26 of them!) not only want to show it, they also want to honour it (Student Short Film Award at the Calgary IFF, Audience Award Vienna Shorts, Best Austrian Film at the Shortinale andandand!)
And when she’s not in the country looking at what role domestic sheep could play in her new mini-series for ZDF, she’s an enthusiastic judge at – yay! – the Landjäger Kürzestfilm Festspiele. You’ll hear whether she’ll be at the Gartenbaukino on June the 27th (she’s the one “who laughs when no one else does“).
These were our jury members 2014 – 2023
Outstanding personalities from the worlds of art, culture and short film have so far graced the jury of the Kürzestfilm Festspiele and voted on the best 12 seconds of their jury life.
2023
Jasmin Baumgartner, film producer, director
Maschek: Robert Stachel & Peter Hörmanseder, dubbing cabaret artists
Martina Genetti, head of the YOUKI film competition
2022
Catalina Molina, director
David Scheid, cabaret artist, actor, DJ
Julia Pühringer, film critic, presenter, journalist
2019
Veronika Franz, director
Anna Hawliczek, cinematographer
Kurt Palm, director, author
2017
Stefanie Sargnagel, author
Mirjam Unger, director
Sabina Zeithammer, film critic
2016
Florian Scheuba, cabaret artist
Sabrina Reiter, actress
Astrid Heubrandtner, cinematographer
2015
Kurt Palm, director, author
Markus Lust, Vice-Editor
Pia Reiser, journalist
2014
Andreas Ungerböck, Ray film magazine
Andrea Maria Dusl, film director, Falter
Martin Gruber, film director
