Jessica Hausner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jessica Hausner
Jessica Hausner at the 66th Venice International Film Festival
Born	(1972-10-06) 6 October 1972 (age 52) Vienna, Austria
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	1995–present

Jessica Hausner (born October 6, 1972) is a talented film director and writer from Austria. She also teaches at the Filmacademy Vienna, sharing her knowledge with new filmmakers.

Early Life

Jessica Hausner grew up in a very creative family. Her father, Rudolf Hausner, was a famous painter in Vienna. Her sister, Tanja Hausner, designs costumes for films. Her half-sister, Xenia Hausner, is also a painter and designs sets for movies. Jessica studied filmmaking at the Filmacademy Vienna, where she learned how to make her own films.

Career

Starting Her Own Film Company

In 1999, Jessica Hausner teamed up with fellow directors Barbara Albert and Antonin Svoboda. They also worked with cinematographer Martin Gschlacht. Together, they started their own film production company in Vienna called coop99. This company helped them make the kinds of movies they wanted to create.

Early Films and International Attention

Jessica's first films were a short movie called Flora (made in 1995) and her graduation film, Inter-View (from 1999). These early films were shown at many film festivals across Europe.

She became well-known around the world in 2001 with her film Lovely Rita. This movie tells the story of a young girl who feels trapped by her family's rules. It was shown at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in a special section called Un Certain Regard. At that time, many Austrian movies were comedies. Lovely Rita was different; it was an art-house film that made people think. It helped bring new ideas to Austrian cinema. In 2002, Jessica was asked to be a judge at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival.

Later Works and Recognition

In 2004, Jessica Hausner returned to the Cannes Film Festival with her movie Hotel. This film was a psychological horror story. It was inspired by the works of famous directors like David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Michael Haneke.

After a break, in 2009, she released Lourdes. Many film critics consider this to be one of her best films.

Her 2014 film, Amour Fou, was also chosen to compete at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Her next big movie was Little Joe. This was her first film made in English. It was sold to many countries around the world. The film was shown in the main competition at Cannes. The lead actress, Emily Beecham, won the Best Actress award for her role in Little Joe.

Judging at Film Festivals

Jessica Hausner has been a judge at the Cannes Film Festival multiple times. In 2011, she judged the short films section. In 2016, she was a judge for the Un Certain Regard section. Later, in 2021, she joined the main jury, which decides the festival's top awards.

In 2017, she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This means she can vote for the Oscars, the famous film awards. That same year, she was a special guest and mentor at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Recent Achievements

As of 2023, Jessica Hausner is seen as one of Austria's most important directors. She holds a professorship at the Film Academy Vienna. Her 2023 film, Club Zero, stars Mia Wasikowska. It was chosen to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. The 29th Sarajevo Film Festival honored Jessica Hausner by showing many of her past films.

In December 2023, the music from Club Zero, created by Markus Binder, won the award for best European Soundtrack at the European Film Awards.

In May 2024, Jessica Hausner was chosen to be the head of the jury for the main competition at the 77th Locarno Film Festival. This festival took place in August of that year.

Filmography

Short Films

Feature Films

See also

In Spanish: Jessica Hausner para niños