New Media and Film

Whether on the cyberdeck of the Ars Electronica Center or in the concert hall where the audience can experience the virtual, three-dimensional rush of images: welcome to the force field of art, technology and society in the heart of Linz.

Worldwide Unique Platform

The who's who of digital art and media culture has gathered since 1979 in Linz. They were attracted by the internationally renowned Ars Electronica Festival, a worldwide unique platform for an open, interdisciplinary exchange at the intersection of art, technology and society. Every year in September, international experts from art and science reach a broad interested audience. Since 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica, one of the best endowed competitions for CyberArts, has been awarded during the Ars Electronica Festival.

Fasten your seatbelts for take-off.

The Museum of the Future opened in Linz in 1996: the Ars Electronica Center. Dive into virtual reality with the newest computer technologies and media art you can touch to try out, learn, play with and arrange yourself. On top of that, the impact of new technologies on art and the world of work and leisure are presented in an interactive exhibition. 1996 was also the founding year of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, where internationally recognized research and development projects continuously redefine the interplay of man and computer. In 2004, a concert version of Richard Wagner's "Rheingold" was performed at Brucknerhaus and linked to a virtual 3D world. This world premiere was the impressive result of a collaboration between the Brucknerhaus Linz, the artist Johannes Deutsch and the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Since the Capital of Culture Year 2009, the Ars Electronica Center presents itself in a new dimension with an expansion of its area to about 4,000 square metres on the other side of the Danube, in Urfahr.

Film Production

In Linz, a squad of filmmakers contributes to Austrian film production with features, documentaries, advertising films and films for the industry. The University of Arts Linz and the Hagenberg Campus of the University of Applied Sciences offer filmmakers films and media courses and degree programmes. Independent initiatives and associations such as the media workshop Medienwerkstatt Linz, the intercultural media workshop Pangea or the public-access channel dorfTV are an opportunity offered to film and media makers, creative artists as well as interested citizens.

Experiencing Film

  • Moviemento & City Kino – Summer Cinema - Mediatheque (German only) Arthouse cinemas presenting non-mainstream films – international auteur cinema and Austrian productions. Specials such as baby's cinema, film brunch and film debates create a cinema culture based on communication. Summer cinema, open air cinema evenings, mediatheque, etc.
  • Cinematograph  (German only) Classic coffee house and cinema the way it was back then. The Cinematograph is the only cinema outside Vienna presenting historical productions dating from 1895 to 1950.
  • Crossing Europe Film Festival 
    The Film Festival, which has been held every April since 2004, has devoted its programme to idiosyncratic, contemporary and socio-political auteur cinema from Europe. Films made by a young generation of directors are presented to the national and international audience
  • International Children's Film Festival
    For more than two decades, the International Children's Film Festival has taken place in late autumn at different venues in Linz and all over Austria. The medium film provides children access to other cultures and languages in an exciting way.
  • Flipt! Austrian Flip Book Festival 
    In summer 2010, the Flip Book festival was held in Linz already for the third time. It was an exhibition of classic flip books as well as of  newly edited presentations including visuals and live music.

Free Media

  • Radio FRO (German only)  
    Linz's local channel Radio Fro 105.0 FM (LIWEST cable 95.6 FM, live stream http://www.fro.at) broadcasts more than 100 different programmes in fourteen languages pro-duced by more than 400 people.
  • dorfTV (German only)
    The public-access channel dorfTV (meaning village TV) gives people from Upper Austria a chance to broadcast contributions, television programmes and videos. dorfTV is a user generated television channel which is produced in a studio on the main square of Linz and broadcast via DVB-T. Reception area: Upper Austria
  • junQ.at – frischluft, subtext.at (German only)
    Media platform for youth culture that provides an opportunity for young people for ac-tive participation and co-determination. The independent youth magazine frischluft (fresh air) is a free print magazine by and for young people. subtext.at is the online magazine by junQ.at.
  • servus.at (German only)
    Culture needs backbone, thus to be connected to the main route of international electronic networks. servus.at grants Upper Austrian culture  access to the data highway and acts as a presentation and working platform as well as an interface.

Digital Media

  • Marianne von Willemer Prize for Women in Digital Art (German only)  
    With the aim to encourage and acknowledge women net artists, the Office of Women's Affairs of the City of Linz awarded the Marianne.von.Willemer.08 Prize for Digital Art in cooperation with the Ars Electronica Center and support from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.
  • Ars Electronica
    Since 1979, the Ars Electronica has been a platform for digital art and media culture that is unique in its specific orientation and long-term existence.
  • Ars Electronica Center
    The Ars Electronica Center was opened in 1996 and represents the prototype of a "Museum of the Future". In the Capital of Culture Year, the Ars Electronica Center presented itself in a new dimension with an expansion of its area to about 4,000 square meters on the other side of the Danube, in Urfahr.
  • Ars Electronica Festival
    Interdisciplinarity and open encounters between art and science experts from around the world and a broad interested audience have characterized the internationally renowned Ars Electronica Festival since 1979.
  • Prix Ars Electronica
    Since 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica, the most important competition for CyberArts in the world, has provided a forum for artistic achievement and innovation. It is a barometer of trends in an expanding and increasingly diversified media art world.
  • Ars Electronica Futurelab
    The Futurelab is the model of a new type of media art lab, where artistic and technological innovation inspire one another.
  • University of Applied Sciences Campus Hagenberg
    The Austrian IT and software stronghold Hagenberg is located about 20 kilometers to the north-east of Linz and conjoins business, research and education. Over 1100 students make use of the wide range of study courses.
  • Medienwerkstatt Linz (German only)
    The media workshop Medienwerkstatt Linz is an educational facility of the City of Linz and the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour, offering the possibility of producing non-commercial radio and television programmes.