DIRECTORS

Maria Petschnig is an award-winning Brooklyn-based filmmaker and video artist. To quote New York magazine —""her strange videos suggest she’s the art world’s Franz Kafka”—. By dealing with fantasy, voyeurism, privacy and memory, Maria Petschnig captivates and manipulates the viewer with seemingly familiar images. Petschnig’s work has been screened and exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Major screenings include: Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Anthology Film Archives, New York; MoMA PS1; Mumok, Vienna, Austria; Image Movement, Berlin; Random Institute, Zurich, Switzerland; Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany; Performa 11, NYC; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Callicoon Fine Arts, New York; IMO projects, Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts NYC grant, the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant, New York; as well as a National Grant (video & media art) by the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Arts and Culture, amongst others. In 2015, Black Dog Publishing, London printed a monograph on Petschnig’s videos titled NINETEEN VIDEOS (2002 – 2015). Her feature documentary “Uncomfortably Comfortable” (2021, distributed by Sixpackfilm), follows poet and ex-con Marc Thompson, as he deals with past traumas and tries to overcome the obstacles that hamper his re-entry into society. The film has received the ARTE Documentary Award, and the Austrian Documentary Award. Maria's first feature narrative "Beautiful and Neat Room", is currently in the final phase of post production.