Less than a month before the festival starts, we welcome this year’s first Artists in Residence in Vienna: The two Ukrainian cultural workers Olha Raiter and Olena Syrbu are moving into their studios at Q21/MQ these days, where they will live and work for a month. They will soon be joined by Greek filmmaker Thelyia Petraki. Let us introduce the three of them:

Olha Raiter is the program director and co-founder of Lviv International Short Film Festival, one of the most visible and influential film events in Ukraine. She used to work as a film commissioner, tourist guide, copywriter, and waitress. Currently a curator and program manager of America House Lviv, she is also the initiator of Big Short online cinema, a place for short films in Ukraine. For VIENNA SHORTS 2022, she curates the short film program “Ukraine. In Joy and Sorrow.”.

Olena Syrbu is a researcher, programmer, and cultural manager. She is the co-curator of Kinography open archive, an analyst at the Cedos think tank, and a former programmer at the Kyiv International Short Film Festival for the experimental, feminist, and queer film sections. Her research interests include cultural infrastructures, urban development, and grassroots activism. For the 19th festival edition of VIENNA SHORTS, Olena curates a program about displacement and migration.

Thelyia Petraki has written and directed a medium-length documentary and three short films that won prizes in high profile international film festivals. Her latest short film, Bella, which won an award at VIENNA SHORTS 2021, was nominated at the European Film Awards in the same year. She is currently developing her debut feature film. For VIENNA SHORTS 2022, Thelyia created the festival trailer. In addition, she is part of the FIDO Fiction & Documentary jury.

About our Artists-in-Residence program

Collaborating with Q21 (MuseumsQuartier), we invite several artists each year to exhibit and work in Vienna for one to two months. The Artist-in-Residence program at Q21 fosters international, project-related exchange and is financed with the aid of private sponsors. Each year, the program is able to invite about 40 artists from other countries to realize joint projects with the resident cultural initiatives on location, consequently promoting the establishment of international networks.

News 28.4.2022