WatchAUT 2025

Ticket quantity

You can book a maximum of two tickets per event. If you require more tickets or would like to make a group booking, please contact office@acflondon.org

WatchAUT 2025

  • 13 Mar 2025 — 16 Mar 2025

The Austrian Cultural Forum London, in cooperation with the Austrian Film Institute, presents the third edition of watchAUT, a dedicated film festival featuring the best new and recent films to emerge from Austria.

Running 13–16 March 2025 at Ciné Lumière and the ICA, it provides a glimpse of the world as perceived by the current generation of Austrian filmmakers.

With a focus on today’s hottest issues making waves in front of and behind the camera, watchAUT is both a timely snapshot and an intriguing reflection of the current status quo. It’s also an opportunity to preview anticipated new films by Austrian directors, as well as to see acclaimed titles that haven’t had a UK theatrical release on the big screen.

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WATCHAUT PROGRAMME


OPENING NIGHT FILM: PEACOCK

Ciné Lumière, Thursday 13 March, 8pm
London Premiere + Q&A with Bernhard Wenger, moderated by Guy Lodge

Need a perfect son for dinner with the in-laws? A charming boyfriend for a social event? Matthias plays any role you need—except his true self. In Bernhard Wenger’s razor-sharp debut, BAFTA-nominated Albrecht Schuch (All Quiet on the Western Front) delivers a darkly funny, emotionally layered performance. His portrayal of a man performing for others while quietly crumbling inside is both hilarious and heartbreakingly human. Peacock explores identity, connection, and the exhausting performance of life itself. As Variety put it: “A tart, funny, slightly heartbreaking debut” and “a superb black comedy”.

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VENI VIDI VICI
ICA, Friday 14 March, 6.30pm
London Premiere + Q&A with Daniel Hoesl & Julia Niemann

In Veni Vidi Vici, the ultra-wealthy have reached the ultimate privilege: getting away with murder. Directed by Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann, this pitch-black satire follows the grotesque Maynard family, who turn hunting into a chilling blood sport. Produced by Ulrich Seidl, the film drips with poisonous elegance, blending biting social commentary with stunning, painterly visuals. Opening with Ayn Rand’s chilling quote, “Who will stop me?” the film delivers a savage critique of unchecked power with a wink, a smirk, and plenty of blood.

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MOON
ICA, Friday 14 March, 8.40pm
UK Premiere + Q&A with Kurdwin Ayub

What seems like a dream job for Sarah—a retired Austrian martial artist hired to train three teenage sisters in Jordan—quickly turns eerie. The sisters aren’t interested in training, their lavish home feels like a prison, and bodyguards guard hidden secrets.

In Moon, Kurdwin Ayub flips the “white saviour” trope, crafting a tense mystery of wealth and control. Anchored by Florentina Holzinger’s fierce performance, the film blends thriller and horror elements to explore power dynamics, unraveling a chilling, sunlit story of isolation and silence.

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FRAME REBELS: AUSTRIAN SHORTS THAT DEFY CONVENTION
ICA, Saturday 15 March, 6.30pm

Austrian experimental cinema has long been a hotbed of radical ideas and daring artistry. From the 1970s to today, this collection, courtesy of the Sixpack archive, charts a bold lineage of filmmakers who shattered conventions and reimagined cinematic possibilities. Spanning decades of innovation, Frame Rebels showcases a kaleidoscope of creative rebellion, where form meets subversion and the boundaries of film are constantly redrawn. For full programme please download the programme or click HERE.

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SPECIAL ARCHIVE SCREENING: ANGST
ICA, Saturday 15 March, 8.30pm

This infamous Austrian cult movie from 1983 will be screened for the first time in London as part of watchAUT! Angst dives into the life and mind of a serial killer recently released from prison who quickly feels the compulsion to kill again. He starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house. Intimately confined to the perspective of the killer, Angst is a risky yet altogether complex vision of the human mind gone astray.

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PIGGY BANK
ICA, Sunday 16 March, 3pm
London Premiere

When you hear “Piggy Bank,” you might picture a cute porcelain pig—until it’s time to smash it. Christoph Schwarz takes this metaphor to absurd heights, transforming himself into a literal moral piggy bank. After misappropriating €90,000 from Austrian broadcaster ORF to buy his dream house, he faces a dilemma: he still owes them a film. His solution? A no-budget documentary about going on a year-long money strike. Playful and self-aware, Piggy Bank evolves from a cheeky stunt into a witty satire on capitalism, art, and climate activism.

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MEHRUNISA
ICA, Sunday 16 March, 5.30pm
UK Premiere + Q&A with director Sandeep Kumar

When 80-year-old Mehrunisa’s husband dies, she shatters both her marriage bed and societal expectations by setting her sights on an overdue dream: a starring role in a Bollywood epic. But the male-dominated film industry wants her to play a minor, background character. Refusing to be sidelined, Mehrunisa, with her granddaughter’s support, demands a film that tells history through the eyes of women.

Sandeep Kumar’s Mehrunisa is a stirring story of late-life emancipation and defiance against patriarchy. Witty, rebellious, and deeply moving, the film critiques Bollywood’s ageism and celebrates female resilience and reinvention.

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Venues:

ICA
The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
https://www.ica.art/

Ciné Lumière
17 Queensberry Pl, London SW7 2DW
https://www.institut-francais.org.uk/cinema/#/

WatchAUT 2025 cover image