Cinema Next: A Letter from/for…

Cinema has always been an art that has been compared and associated with other art forms. When describing films, an equivalent from another art form is often used. Some films are referred to as "urban symphonies", or another genre is the so-called "diary film".

The term "letter" is also one that has found its way into films in many different ways. Some films identify themselves as letters in the title (e.g. Lettre de Sibérie by Chris Marker), while others are conducted like an exchange of letters (e.g. Víctor Erice - Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias). The Cinema Next Special A Letter from/for... presents a handful of Austrian films that show different forms of writing a letter and shed light on letter-writing in cinema.

With Bussi, Baba, Bahare Ruch sends her father a very personal message. The message behind S. for L. by Sebastian Bobik is more enigmatic, only the sender S. and the recipient L. are clear. In The Basil Pot: and, isabella, the recipient of the letter is a plant, Isabella Fellinger adapts a poem into a cinematic ode. And in Letter from a Friend, filmmaker Stefanie Weberhofer and musician Renato Unterberg write a long farewell letter of friendship together.

Bussi, Baba (2020, 8 min, German OV with English subtitles) by Bahare Ruch

S. for L. (2023, 5 min, without dialog) by Sebastian Bobik

The Basil Pot: and, isabella (2023, 4 min, English OV) by Isabella Fellinger

Letter from a Friend (2021, 55 min, German/English OV) by Renato Unterberg & Stefanie Weberhofer