On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the members of the Forum of Austrian Film Festivals (FÖFF) have agreed on a common fair-pay remuneration target. For the first time there is now a common basis that both festivals and funding institutions can work with—a milestone for the festivals (including VIENNA SHORTS) and their employees!

The ambitious paper divides festival jobs into five categories based on IG Kultur’s Fair Pay Table and sets corresponding targets for salaries. In a first step, the table serves primarily as a tool for festivals to draw attention to funding gaps; after all, funding and budget levels at Austria’s film festivals continue to vary widely. Nevertheless, the agreement gives reason to hope that an increased awareness of the work done at festivals will also lead to changes in funding and remuneration practices in the medium term. The Viennale is the first film festival in Austria to decide to pay its staff completely according to the new fair-pay scheme—a first important step, which should be followed by further steps as soon as possible.

10 years of FÖFF

FÖFF was founded in 2012—co-initiated by VIENNA SHORTS—with the aim of strengthening the network of film festivals and changing the unreasonable funding situation. On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the interest group formulated further areas of work for the coming years: good practice models for sustainable festivals, cost-of-living compensation and a new edition of the “Film Festival Report Austria”, which was first published in 2016.

Further information (in German only): Press release, Fair Pay Table

News 2.11.2022