Jessica Hausner (born 6 October 1972) is an Austrian film director and writer, and a professor at Filmacademy Vienna.

Early life

Jessica Hausner is the daughter of Viennese painter Rudolf Hausner, sister of costume designer Tanja Hausner and half sister of set designer and painter Xenia Hausner. She studied at Filmacademy Vienna.

Career

With fellow directors Barbara Albert and Antonin Svoboda and director of photography Martin Gschlacht, she founded the Viennese film production company coop99 in 1999. Her first films, a short ''Flora'' (1995) and diploma ''Inter-View'' (1999), were screened at several European film festivals. She received international attention in 2001 when her film '' Lovely Rita'', a portrait of a young girl who feels confined by family constraints, was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

2001 Cannes Film Festival The 54th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 20 May 2001. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was named Jury President for the main competition. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti won the ''Palme d'Or'' for the drama film '' The Son's ...

. At that time Austrian cinema was dominated by commercial comedies and the general public was prejudiced against auteur and genre cinema. Art-house oriented and disturbing, '' Lovely Rita'' became a breath of fresh air and revitalized Austrian film. In 2002, Hausner was invited to join the jury at the

24th Moscow International Film Festival The 24th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2002. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Italian-French film ''Resurrection (2001 film), Resurrection'' directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. Jury * Chinghiz Aitmato ...

. In 2004, she returned to Cannes with her film ''

Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

'', a psychological horror inspired by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

, and

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, Ge ...

. For several years, Hausner stayed in Berlin and assisted Valeska Grisebach. After this break, in 2009 she released ''

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

'' which is considered by many critics her best film. Her 2014 film '' Amour Fou'' was selected to compete in the

section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Her next feature, '' Little Joe'', became her English-language debut, it was sold in 20 countries. The film was selected in Competition at Cannes and brought the lead Emily Beecham the Best Actress award. Hausner was a jury member at 2011 Cannes in the Cinéfondation & Short Films section; later, in 2016, she was a member of the jury for the

section of the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian filmmaker George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and ...

, while in 2021 she joined the main jury. She was appointed a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

in 2017 which entitled her to vote at the Oscars. In the same year, she was a special guest and mentor at

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internatio ...

. As of 2023, Hausner is regarded as one of the most outstanding Austrian directors and holds a professorship at the Film Academy Vienna. Her 2023 film '' Club Zero'', starring Mia Wasikowska, was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. The 29th Sarajevo Film Festival paid a tribute to Hausner with a retrospective of her features. In December 2023, ''Club Zeros soundtrack, by Markus Binder of the Austrian folk-punk band Attwenger, was awarded best European Soundtrack at the European Film Awards. In May 2024, Hausner was named the jury president for the main competition of the 77th Locarno Film Festival that August.

Filmography

Short film Feature film

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hausner, Jessica 1972 births Living people Austrian film directors Austrian screenwriters Austrian women film directors Film people from Vienna Austrian women screenwriters