Annual Film Event in Linz featuring Nina Hoss - Linz's Crossing Europe Film Festival showcases movies with notable actress Nina Hoss in attendance.
The Crossing Europe Film Festival, now in its 2025 edition, continues to shine a spotlight on outstanding European cinema and foster dialogue about film culture in Linz, Austria. This year's festival, taking place from April 29 to May 4, features a diverse lineup of 142 feature, documentary, and short films from 42 countries.
Highlights from the festival include special screenings at Austrian venues such as the Filmmuseum Linz, where two festival highlights, including "Eighty Plus" (2025), were presented in May and June 2025. The festival is also integrated into Austria’s cinematic culture through cross-event support and promotion, as demonstrated by its collaborations with other cultural events like the Vienna KARLSkino open-air festival.
The festival plays an active role in the Austrian film scene and broader European cinema landscape, with collaborations involving other cultural events. This integration is reflected in the festival’s positioning as a platform not only for film presentation but also for industry networking and funding support, which contributes to the valorization of films screened there.
Notable Austrian films linked to the festival circuit include "Land of Mountains" by Olga Kosanović, which was nominated for the Austrian Film Award 2025, and "Night of Passage" by Reza Rasouli and "Ferarri" by Philip Ivancsics, both connected to festival circuits and receiving awards at various European short film festivals.
The awards ceremony will take place on May 3, with the festival opening with Ina Weisse's care drama "Zikaden" and Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzan's spy thriller "Reflection in a dead diamond". "Zikaden" will be shown in Austrian cinemas on July 7th. Other films to be screened include the Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko's "My dear Theo", a documentary addressing her frontline experiences during the Ukraine war, and "Die letzte Botschafterin" by Natalie Halla, a documentary about the Afghan diplomat Manizha Bakhtari.
The Local Artists section at the Crossing Europe film festival features visual artist and filmmaker Edgar Honetschläger, whose work focuses on the relationship between human civilization and the environment. Honetschläger will present four filmic positions at the festival, and a solo exhibition dedicated to him, titled "Edgar Honetschläger - Give Nature a Break", is running at the Nordico City Museum in Linz until August 24.
Several films at the festival will address the Ukraine war, including Damian Kocur's "Under the volcano" and Carola Mair's "Hellwach. Hommage an Bodo Hell". Other films to be shown include Emilie Blichfeldt's feature film debut "The ugly stepsister", "The quiet son" by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, about a French trade unionist and his son who has drifted to the right, and Carlos Marques-Marcet's "They will be dust", a unique take on the topic of aging, being a "death assistance musical".
The festival's total budget for 2025 is 950,000 euros. The festival trailer's digital avatar was created by media artist Dagmar Schrürer, who had a special showcase in last year's Local Artist program. Awards will be given in several categories, including feature film and documentary, audience award, YAAAS! youth section, Local Artists, Creative Region Music Video Award, MIOB New Vision Award, and MIOB In Shorts 2025 audience award for short films.
At the Crossing Europe Film Festival, a special screening of "Eighty Plus" (2025) was presented in May and June 2025 at the Filmmuseum Linz, showcasing the diversity of movies-and-tv from various international filmmakers. This festival, integrated into Austria's cinematic culture, also features a lineup of films from different countries, highlighting the entertainment aspect and fostering dialogue about European film culture.
