A cooperation with Dina Yanni + Gewächshaus + Filmarchiv Austria

Facebook Event

Dina Yanni Website

Des Kaisers Gespenster! (full video)

The screening and talk moves a critical examination of the Kaiserfilm — a uniquely Austrian genre of Austrian post-war cinema set during the reign of Kaiser Franz Josef (1848–1916) – into the center of discussion. These films, including the globally popular Sissi series, portray the often-brutal Habsburg era coined as the “Völkerkerker” in a fairytale-like manner, emphasizing unity and harmony. Pivotal to the genre are “Kaiser nostalgia” and the connected “Habsburg myth,” which tie to Austria’s continuous glorification of its colonial-imperialility also anchored in the tourist industry. The genre aimed to erase Austria's Nazi past by escaping to an identity affirming fairytale staged in Kaiserfilm.

The talk and Kaisersfilm excerpt screening includes visual and sonic interventions aiming to provide a resistant point of departure. It serves  as an invitation to discuss the present imperial implications of the Kaiserfilm on Austria`s post migrant, post-colonial and post-nazistic society.

The Emperor's Ghosts!
Imperial-colonial nostalgia and historical escapism in Austrian imperial films

Dina Yannis' new film ‘Des Kaisers Gespenster!’ (The Emperor's Ghosts!) ventures a critical visual examination of the so-called imperial film genre, dismantling frighteningly familiar, dominant viewing traditions in the process. The imperial films – including the world-famous ‘Sissi’ trilogy – are a genre of Austrian post-war cinema set during the reign of Emperor Franz Josef (1848-1916) and presenting this period in a fairy-tale-like manner that contradicts history. At the heart of the genre are ‘imperial nostalgia’ and the associated ‘Habsburg myth,’ which tie in with the continuous glorification of Austria's colonial-imperial position, which is also anchored in the tourism industry. The genre aims to erase Austria's National Socialist past by escaping into an identity-forming fairy tale staged in imperial films. Austria's brutal imperial-colonial past is thus also to be whitewashed.

Des Kaisers Gespenster! engages with this genre through visual and sonic interventions that aim to offer alternative perspectives. The screening, which is a premiere, the talk and the subsequent discussion moderated by film director and journalist Malena Martínez Cabrera are an invitation to jointly examine the contemporary (anti)imperial implications of the Kaiser film on Austria's post-migrant, post-colonial and post-Nazi society.

Dina Yanni is a Vienna based video artist and political scientist. Dina creates video work that utilizes existing footage, experimental editing and data corruption to reveal, reevaluate and reframe power structures discovered in the original materials. Her work has been exhibited at video art and underground festivals internationally.

Screening: Dina Yanni

Talk: Dina Yanni and Gewächshaus

Moderation: Malena Martínez Cabrera / Gewächshaus