Austrian Film Museum


The Austrian Film Museum is a film archive and museum located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Peter Konlechner and Peter Kubelka in 1964 as a non-profit organization.
The collection comprises approximately 31,000 films from 1893 to the present and all genres.

History

Founded in 1964 by Peter Konlechner and film artist Peter Kubelka, the Austrian Film Museum aimed to preserve films and present them to the public, affirming what they thought to be the two roles of film: "as the most important form of artistic expression in modernity and as the chief historiographical source of the 20th century." This effort was financially supported through the Austrian government as well as the City of Vienna. Private sponsors alongside the membership and admission fees have kept the establishment functioning. Within a year's time of its inception, the Austrian Film Museum was inducted as a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. Films preserved in the Austrian Film Museum were shown to the public in the museum's own cinema, located in the Albertina building behind Vienna's State Opera. In 1989, the “Invisible Cinema,” based on a concept of Peter Kubelka, allowed for viewers of films to be completely focused and concentrated on the viewing and listening of films. As of November 2002, the Austrian Film Museum has installed contemporary film and sound equipment to aid in the viewing of these historical films.

Leadership

From its inception, Konlechner and Kubleka remained as the co-directors until the end of 2001, when both retired. The role of director was then passed onto Alexander Horwarth. This job was then taken over by Michael Loebenstein on October 1, 2017.
The board now consists of: