Jessica Hausner

Writer and director Jessica Hausner developed a deep love of film as she grew up in Vienna, Austria. She would spend her days at the city's independent cinemas consuming films. Her passion for classic movies showed through in her stylish and intelligent scripts and direction. Hausner studied at the Academy for Film in Vienna before writing short "Kilometer 123,5" (1994) and writing/directing "Flora" (1995) and "Inter-View" (1995). However it was her debut feature as writer and director, 2001's "Lovely Rita," that brought her to wider attention after it screened at Cannes, with British newspaper The Guardian comparing Hausner to fellow Austrian auteurs Michael Haneke and Ulrich Seidl. Her international reputation continued to grow with dark mystery "Hotel" (2004). She also started to produce other people's work, including Benjamin Heisenberg's "Sleeper" (2005) and Antonin Svoboda's "You Bet Your Life" (2005). Hausner wrote and directed yet another short, "Toast" (2006), before her third feature "Lourdes" (2006) which won a clutch of awards on the European film festival circuit (with Hausner picking up four awards at the Venice Film Festival, amongst others). 2014's humorous period drama "Amour fou" further cemented Hausner's standing as one of Europe's most respected directors.