BLOG

(Un)responsible work — for us

"Living - once really living" (2022) is the British remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 classic "Ikiru". The film addresses a central theme of the working world: taking responsibility. Bill Nighy, perhaps in the role of his life, screenwriter Ishiguro and the film itself have been nominated for several British film awards.

Dystopias of the working world

After more than a century, Katharina Gruzei's reinterpretation of the very first film in film history, ‘Workers Leaving the Factory’, shows a grim picture of the world of work and gives food for thought: Has the situation of workers deteriorated so much and what kind of worklife are we even heading towards?

Night Mail — The focus on work

"Night Mail" (1936) was commissioned as an image publicity film by the British General Post Office and went down in film history as a ground-breaking documentary. Directors Harry Watt and Basil Wright succeed in creating an ode to workers and modern technology by enriching their naturalistic style within the film with poetic elements and always keeping the human aspect in mind.

Night Mail — The Poetic Gaze

When the eminent film scholar Amos Vogel was forced to flee Vienna to the United States in 1938, the 17-year-old had already made the decision to devote his life to film. One experience that would define his future was a screening of "Night Mail" (1936) and this film still doesn’t fail to impress today.

Bossnapping à la Cantona

In the last two decades in particular, disputes between management and workers in France have become increasingly intense. The so-called "bossnapping", the hostage taking of management, masterfully staged by Éric Cantona in the Netflix series ‘Inhuman Resources’ (2020), provides a telling example.

Eastern German Women. Self-realisation through employment

As a woman you always have to be better than the best man in the team. That's the minimum for a successful woman, where patriarchy works." This is how Maria Gross, a cook and restaurateur from Thuringia, sums up the situation of East German Women (2019) in a MDR-documentary by Lutz Pehnert.
1 2 3 4 5

FILMS

Made in EU

Drama | BG 2025 | 108´ | OmU | Austrian Premiere

Admiralkino

Die göttliche Ordnung

Drama, Comedy | CH 2017 | 92´ | DF

Stadtkino vienna (Free entry)

Jeanne Dielman

Drama | B/F 1975 | 202’ | OmU 

Filmmuseum

AMS/Arbeit muss sein

Feature Film | A 2026 | 100′ | DF

Stadtkino vienna

American Sweatshop

Thriller | US/D 2025 | 100´ | OmU | Austrian Premiere

Gartenbaukino

Ich verstehe Ihren Unmut

Drama | D 2026 | 93´ | DF | Vienna Premiere

Stadtkino vienna + Admiralkino – AK-Freitickets in der FAKTory

Jeunes Mères – Junge Mütter

Drama | B/F 2025 | 104´ | DF 

Stadtkino vienna (Free entry)

Stolz & Eigensinn

Documentation | D 2025 | 113´ | DF | Austrian Premiere

Admiralkino

The Sealed Soil

Drama | IR 1977 | 90’ | OmeU

Filmmuseum

Für Frauen, 1. Kapitel

Food retail in film: A historical review

Filmmuseum

Stoff – ein Spitzengeschäft

Documentation | A 2025 | 88‘ | DF

Stadtkino vienna

Ein Tag ohne Frauen

Documentation | IS 2024 | 71’ | OmU

Stadtkino vienna

Passion and reality: Careers in the hospitality industry

Film screening (45 minutes total) plus discussion 

Stadtkino vienna

HELDIN

Drama | CH/D 2025 | 92‘ | DF 

Gartenbaukino

Noch lange keine Lipizzaner

Documentation | A 2025 | 92‘ | DF

Stadtkino vienna

Performance „United Workers“

Live: Susi Rogenhofer (aka Sweet Susie) and Manni Montana

Dom Museum

Sound Lecture: Work in Pop Music

With musical lecture by Stefan Niederwieser (Ö1)

Shh. Listening Bar

Closing party: Reel Beats & Cinematic Grooves  

Legendary scores and iconic tracks

Shh. Listening Bar

Eingang Stadtkino am Eröffnungstag

Rückblick auf das 2. Wiener Arbeitsfilmfestival 2026

Die zweite Ausgabe des Wiener Arbeitsfilmfestivals zog mit einem abwechslungsreichen Programm zahlreiche Besucher:innen an.

PRGRAM
PRGRAM

DATE

TITLE

NOTES

ENTRY


INFO

Work shapes our lives – and yet it often remains invisible in cinema. The Vienna Labour Film Festival changes that: for one working week, feature and documentary films shed light on the reality of work, careers, and education, examine working conditions, and explore paths for improvement. From supermarket shelves to long-haul trucks, from factory halls to care facilities – the screen becomes a stage for lived experiences and societal reflection.

2026 setzten wir mit dem Schwerpunkt „Frauen.Arbeit.Film“ Akzente – mit einem filmischen Blick auf Arbeitsbedingungen, Rahmenbedingungen der Selbstwirksamkeit in Europa und der Welt.

STADTKINO WIEN
Akademiestraße 13, 1010 Wien
stadtkinowien.at
+43 1 71262760

ADMIRALKINO
Burggasse 119, 1070 Wien
admiralkino.at
+43 1 5233759

GARTENBAUKINO
Parkring 12, 1010 Wien
gartenbaukino.at
+43 1 512 23 54

ÖSTERR. FILMMUSEUM
Augustinerstr. 1, 1010
filmmuseum.at
+43 1 533 70 54 20

Festival Management: 

Jörg Markowitsch 

Curators: 

Jörg Markowitsch 
Susi Rogenhofer 
Stefan Schmid-Heher
Barbara Waschmann

Festival Team:

Tessa Pittrof, Eva Steinheimer

Film Advisory Board:

Christoph Bart, Christoph Büttner, Reinhold Gaubitsch, Wiktoria Pelzer, Susi Rogenhofer, Stefan Schmid-Heher, Eva Steinheimer, Konrad Wakolbinger,
Barbara Waschmann

We thank:

Hans Aigner, Renate Anderl, Christa Auderlitzky, Karima Aziz, Lara Bellon, Christian Bednarik, Max Bergmann, Sebastian Brauneis, Carina Crubök,
Judith Czarmann, Iris Dullnig-Scheurecker, Ilkim Erdost, Petra Erdmann, Christoph Fintl, Maria Friessner, Peter Fuchs (Distributionspartner), Sabine Gebetsroither, Ernst Gesslbauer, Winfried Göschl, Malena Haas, Katharina Handlos, Veronika Helfert, Antonia Heigl, Norbert Horvath, Stefan Huber, Christine Juen,
Klaus Kienesberger, Susanne Klimmer, Martin Kofler, Johannes Kopf, Renate Lehner, Tina Liebert, Rainer Lichtblau, Elisabeth Lichtkoppler, Michael Loebenstein, Teresa Lukas, Theresa Lukas, Dirk Maier, Brigitte Matula, Eva Meran, Lucas Meyer, Marko Miloradovic, Simon Nagy, Magdalena Neumüller, Stefan Niederwieser,
Constanze Oedl, Marie Pailer, Wiktoria Pelzer, Yola Marie Pelliccia, Martin Prinz, Sherin Quell, Anna Raith, Lily Riegler, Katharina Richtsfeld, Kurt Schmid,
Philipp Schnell, Herbert Schweiger, Norman Shetler, Georg Spitaler, Christian Stifter, Sabine Thalau, Christiane Thenius, Fredi Themel, Dominik Tschuetscher, Stefan Vater, Julia Varga, Manuela Vollmann, Harald Wenninger, Anke Wiedmann, Moritz Wildburger, Angelika Wolff, Barbara Wolfram, Katharina Würtinger, Andreea Zelinka und Martin Zeilinger

STAY IN THE LOOP!

DON'T MISS ANY NEWS FROM
THE VIENNA LABOUR FILM FESTIVAL AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!

Scroll to Top