Louise Kolm-Fleck: Silent Films of a Feminist Pioneer
Images: Filmarchiv Austria
November 7 – 8, 2025
TICKETS AVAILABLE IN DUE COURSE
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York and the Filmarchiv Austria proudly present a rare screening of films by Louise Kolm-Fleck, one of the first female film directors in the world and a foundational figure in Austrian cinema. Active in the silent era from the 1910s through the 1920s, Kolm-Fleck co-founded Vienna’s Wiener Kunstfilm and directed or co-directed over 100 films, often in collaboration with her husband, Jakob Fleck. Her work spans a remarkable range of genres, from social dramas and literary adaptations to early examples of feminist storytelling, addressing issues like social inequality, female agency, and systemic barriers with striking clarity and courage. More than 100 years later, the struggles she depicted so powerfully remain all too familiar. Long overshadowed by her male contemporaries, Kolm-Fleck’s visionary contributions are only now beginning to receive the recognition they deserve.
Spotlighting her in New York is both a celebration and a call to action: a powerful act of cultural diplomacy, feminist historiography, and archival advocacy. This festival restores her voice and her vision to the screen – where they have always belonged – through newly restored prints, live musical accompaniment, and discussions that place her groundbreaking work in the broader struggle for women’s voices in the arts.
Friday, November 7, 2025 | 6.30 PM
Opening Night at ACFNY | Lecture by Nikolaus Wostry
Doppelselbstmord (“Plot”, 30 min.): The country boy Poldl and the country girl Agerl are in love, and want to get married, but their fathers are enemies since many years, and against their relationship. When all of them meet at the local inn, the other villagers try to reconcile the two fathers, but in vain. In a newspaper Poldl’s father reads about the incessant rise of double suicides caused by broken hearts. This gives Poldl an idea. He runs away with Angerl. In the village shop they buy a piece of paper. Together they write a letter to their fathers, saying that they are going to commit suicide, because they are not allowed to get married. Then they hide in a barn at the outskirt of the village. When the two fathers read the letter, they get agonized and realize their faults.
Typen und Szenen aus dem Wiener Volksleben (“Types and Scenes from Viennese Folklife”, 6 min.): This early silent film offers a vivid, observational portrait of everyday life in Vienna around 1912. Through a series of short, loosely connected scenes, the film depicts a range of social “types”: From street vendors and working-class families to musicians and local eccentrics. With a documentary-like style, Typen und Szenen aus dem Wiener Volksleben captures the rhythms, struggles, and humor of the Viennese people, providing a valuable glimpse into urban life at the turn of the century. The film stands out for its ethnographic interest and is one of the earliest examples of realist filmmaking in Austrian cinema.
Saturday, November 8, 2025 | 12 PM
Film-Screening at Metrograph | Q&A with Nikolaus Wostry
Mädchen am Kreuz (“Girl on the Cross”, 77 min.): The young student Mary spends the beginning of her holiday with boat trips, visits to her wealthy groom and gardening. In fast-paced, rhythmic cuts, Louise and Jakob Fleck draw their audience into a carefree, urban romantic comedy. With a single scene, however, it turns into a melodrama about sexual violence, shame and perpetrator-victim reversal. Rejected by contemporary critics due to its unusual characterization of the figures, this rediscovered film from Fleck’s oeuvre is impressive in its technical mastery, but above all because of its unusually open treatment of sexual violence and the hopelessness of a victim who can’t hope for understanding from a society that clings to fixed moral concepts.
Saturday, November 8, 2025 | 2.15 PM
Film-Screening at Metrograph | Q&A with Nikolaus Wostry
Frauenarzt Dr. Schäfer (“Gynecologist Dr. Schäfer”, 86 min.): The respected gynecologist Prof. Hausen is averse to performing abortions. In contrast, his up-and-coming colleague Dr. Schäfer sees abortion as a means of helping women in need and openly advocates an amendment of the law. The professor’s convictions are shaken when misfortune befalls his own family. Louise Fleck presents her drama about the untimeliness of restrictive abortion legislation against the backdrop of modern urban reality. Seriousness, however, is preserved, because topics such as unwanted pregnancy, sexual violence and the consequences of improperly performed abortions are not only addressed through minor characters, but also placed at the center of the cinematic narrative.
Silent Film Accompanist
Makia Matsumura, a New York City-based silent film accompanist, has been captivating audiences for two decades with her live piano improvisations in front of the silver screen. As an alumna of the Pordenone Masterclasses, a distinguished program for emerging silent film accompanists, Makia’s music has played an integral role in silent film events at renowned venues internationally. Demonstrating remarkable musical talent from a young age, she has become a sought-after presence within the silent film community. In addition to her live performances, Makia has provided recorded scores for silent film releases from Kino Lorber, some of which have been featured on Turner Classic Movies and Netflix. Image: Yoko Haraoka.
Metrograph
Metrograph is an entertainment company founded in 2016, based in New York City and turned into the ultimate destination for movie lovers. A special curated world of cinema inspired by the great New York movie theaters of the 1920s and the Commissaries of the Hollywood Studio backlots, Metrograph is a community inhabited by movie professionals screening their work, taking meetings, watching films, collaborating together. With an audience built around our shared love of cinema.