Flotsam:
Films from the Collection of the Communist Party of Austria
May 3, 2020 (verschoben)
In autumn 2018, the film collection of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) was donated to the Austrian Film Museum's archive. The extensive deposit brings together documentary and feature films from socialist countries that show the KPÖ's close relations to East Germany and the Soviet Union as well as election campaign ads and documentary footage of social events in Austria – including the 1959 World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna, the yearly Volksstimme festival, and 1980s peace movement demonstrations.
"We are not showing you an ad for paprika, but a spicy comparison for your consideration" begins one 1962 KPÖ campaign ad. The Film Museum will not show you any political campaigns, but a selection of documents on film, which fragmentarily retrace how Austrian communists created their own image and will once again provide a visual reality to ideas about piece, friendship, and international understanding in the heart of Vienna. (Florian Haag / Translation: Ted Fendt)
Our program series Flotsam is devoted to examples of ephemeral film: archive finds, film documents, unpublished and fragmented film material that have become a subject of research and curatorial attention in the Film Museum.
In autumn 2018, the film collection of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) was donated to the Austrian Film Museum's archive. The extensive deposit brings together documentary and feature films from socialist countries that show the KPÖ's close relations to East Germany and the Soviet Union as well as election campaign ads and documentary footage of social events in Austria – including the 1959 World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna, the yearly Volksstimme festival, and 1980s peace movement demonstrations.
"We are not showing you an ad for paprika, but a spicy comparison for your consideration" begins one 1962 KPÖ campaign ad. The Film Museum will not show you any political campaigns, but a selection of documents on film, which fragmentarily retrace how Austrian communists created their own image and will once again provide a visual reality to ideas about piece, friendship, and international understanding in the heart of Vienna. (Florian Haag / Translation: Ted Fendt)
Our program series Flotsam is devoted to examples of ephemeral film: archive finds, film documents, unpublished and fragmented film material that have become a subject of research and curatorial attention in the Film Museum.
Due to the developments around COVID 19, the screening on May 3, 2020 could not take place as originally planned. The program has been rescheduled for May 22, 2022.
Related materials
Program Flotsam - May / June 2022
Link Series "Flotsam"