With short films by Anahi Juárez, Çağla Gillis, Lenka Štěpánková, Yevheniia Kriuk, Yuliia Sudarchykova, and Tamás Hegyi
Çağla Gillis: Block E, No. 5
Çağla moves to Austria for university, facing the loneliness of a temporary dormitory, a liminal space that shapes her emotional journey. Meanwhile, her family in Istanbul struggles with the uncertainty and frustration of living in a rented apartment. Their home, demolished due to aggressive urban policies under the guise of earthquake risk prevention, remains incomplete for years. Through intimate yet online conversations, they share their longing for belonging, the weight of waiting, and the mundane tasks of daily life. In these cold, fractured spaces, time seems to blur, and memories echo as voices.
CREDITS: director, director of photography: çağla gillis; camera çağla gillis, tolga karaaslan, irem çakır; editing çağla gillis & zeynep demirhan; sound andreea-mandi vladut & sashe urdovski; graphic design ellinor brandenburg; participants sadık çalışkan, alican çalışkan, sevingül çalışkan, gülay doygun, çağla gillis
Çağla Gillis is a PhD candidate in Artistic Research at the University of Arts Linz, Austria. Her work explores the more-than-human world through experimental ethnography, challenging anthropocentric approaches to documenting history and trauma. As a filmmaker, Çağla's work investigates women's experiences, everyday life, and imaginary topographies. She actively engages in work aimed at exploring the links between her personal life experiences and the broader historical and contemporary movements. Her films, blending experimental and documentary forms, have been screened at various film festivals and galleries internationally.
Tamás Hegyi: Bed Work
A short video work reflecting on the absurdity of remote labor, where the boundaries between personal intimacy and corporate presence are blurred. Issues of emotional regulation, internalized work ethics and invisible control systems are perceived through the lens of the existential crisis of a regular working day.
Tamás Hegyi is a media artist whose practice engages with various forms of interactivity, digital culture and socio-psychological themes. He is currently living and working in Vienna and is a part of the Experimental Game Cultures program at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
Anahi Juárez: Un simple terrenal [A simple earthling]
A video poem that speaks about the sensitivity of growing up in the marginalized periphery of Mexico City.
Anahi Juárez (b. 1996, Mexico City) is a visual artist whose practice revolves around the constant production of images shaped by the consumption of internet imaginaries and popular media since the 2000s. They hold a degree in Visual Arts from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico and are currently studying for a Diploma in Digital Arts at Angewandte Kunst University in Vienna, where they reside. Their work questions the impact of digital culture on subjectivity and sensitivity, exploring the reconfiguration of spectacular imaginaries through painting, video, and performance. Juárez often intervenes in technological bodies—cell phones, televisions, computers, and cameras—examining their role in shaping perception and desire.
Yevheniia Kriuk: I can hear sirens
The video artwork I can hear sirens explores the PTSD experience of a refugee from Ukraine who has arrived in Austria. Through a layered visual and sonic composition, the piece interweaves the realities of Vienna and Kyiv, blurring the boundaries between past and present, safety and trauma. Sounds recorded in Kyiv—distant echoes of war, sirens, and everyday life—overlap with video and photographic footage from Vienna, creating a disorienting sensory landscape. The contrast between these two cities becomes a reflection of the refugee's inner state, where memories of home persist and resurface unpredictably, shaping their perception of the new environment. I would love to keep on working with the video and add more scenes from my life with my girlfriend in Vienna and footage from my apartment in Kyiv, which was damaged a few times.
Yevheniia Kriuk (b. 2001), born in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a visual artist engaging through the mediums of photography, video, fine art and installations. Works with themes of identity, queer youth and war. In 2024 moved to Vienna, Austria and started to study photography and video at Angewandte. In 2022, participated in the residency at the MRO Foundation during The Rencontres Festival in Arles, France and in 2023 was at the residency at KÜNSTLERHAUS in Bremen, Germany.
Yuliia Sudarchykova: We Are All Foreigners
The film depicts one day in the life of a woman who fled her home because of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Her life consists of weekly German language courses, a low-paid job as a cleaning staff in an office, and evening time alone with her thoughts. The main character is one of many who found themselves alienated and lost within the broken connection between their past and present, and uncertain thoughts about the future.
CREDITS: Directing, idea, camera, poster: Yuliia Sudarchykova; starring: Vira Hanzha, Iryna Sochavska, Ivan Dubovoi, Mykhailo Rylov, Sofiia Yasnistka; teacher’s voice: Beatrice Signorello; color grading: Vadym Khudoliy; sound editing: Dmytro Huk.
Yuliia Sudarchykova (b. 1997) is a Ukrainian photographer and filmmaker from Kyiv, currently based in Vienna. With a background in photography, video, and visual communication, she has worked and volunteered with organizations like Modern Ukrainian Cinema (UA), DocuDays IFF of Human Rights (UA), Kyiv IFF Molodist (UA). Nowadays she is a part of the curatorial collective Kriegsbilder (AT). Yuliia’s artistic practice began with the photographic exploration of the Ukrainian post-Maidan youth underground culture. Over time, her practice expanded to the moving image, and the full-scale war led her to explore topics of loneliness, nostalgia, transformation of suppressed emotions and the subconscious.
Lenka Štěpánková: podobizny – the identity of the studio as a portrait of artists
(A/CZ 2024, Dir.: Lenka Štěpánková, 27 min., OmeU)
The film “podobizny” features Vienna-based artist Nika Kupyrova, the artist duo Hagyo-Gamauf, and Czech artist and musician A/C. This documentary explores the mythology of the art studio, examining it through a feminist lens. It presents the studio not only as a space of creation but also as a site where the artist’s identity takes shape. The film highlights the fluid boundary between the private and public aspects of the studio, portraying it as both a place of artistic work and a public arena where the artist’s personality and self-representation are constructed.
CREDITS: Featuring: Artist Nika Kupyrova, Artist duo Romana Hagyo and Silke Maier-Gamauf (Hagyo-Gamauf), Musician Anna Černíková (A/C). Supported by The 2024 Student Grant Competition of UMPRUM Prague.
Lenka Štěpánková (1990), an interdisciplinary artist specializing in video and painting, is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague. Her doctoral research explores the historical contexts and contemporary representations of women artists in the Czech Republic and Austria, with a particular focus on the gender perspective within artistic studios. Lenka has received international scholarships, including Aktion Österreich and CEEPUS mobility, allowing her to study at Austrian institutions such as the Academy of Fine Arts (2023) and Die Angewandte at Zentrum Fokus Forschung (2024) in Vienna.
The event is a part of the Fragile Foundations: Art, Mental Health, and Housing Precarity public program. Supported by MA7, BMWKMS, and the 15th District.
