Films by Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk

DIVO. A REad-Through

Austria 2026
Directors, Producers, Editors: Aleksandra Kołodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Actresses: Mara Mattuschka and Karolina Preuschl
Camera: Mira Klug
Runtime: 23 minutes
Original Format: 4K
Screening Format: DCP, colour, sound

Two actresses meet for a read-through to prepare for an upcoming film shoot. The scenes they rehearse explore the historical phenomenon of hysteria—its ties to gender norms and its function as a tool to control women.

The archival material reviewed during the rehearsal—among it a “diva film” from the silent era—helps the actresses develop their roles. The diva film links the medical construction of hysteria to cinema’s depiction of “emotional breakdowns” in female characters—representations that still resonate today.

Through the interplay of performance, spoken text, and archival footage, DIVO dismantles socially assigned behavioral patterns for dealing with moments of crisis and turns them into the subject of critical reflection. At the same time, it is an homage to collaborative artistic work and to art as an open-ended, collective process.

With the support of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna – MA 7.

Nach der natur/ after nature

Austria 2024
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Editors: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Runtime: 7 minutes
Original Format: Super 16mm
Screening Format: 16mm and DCP, colour, sound

'After Nature' takes up the classical tradition of the artistic practice of 'drawing after nature' (»nach der Natur«) and refers in its title to a time in which nature as we think we know it no longer exists. The film consists of twenty shots taken over four seasons, mainly in Vienna, Lower Austria and Styria. In 'After Nature', aestheticised shots of nature are interrupted by an unconventional soundtrack that questions the integrity of our living environment.

With the support of the Regional Government of Styria - CINEART, the Regional Government of Lower Austria and the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna – MA 7.

1130 2024

Austria 2024
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Editors: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Runtime: 1 minutes 12 seconds
Original Format: Super 16mm
Screening Format: 16mm and DCP, b&w, silent

Vienna in 2024: A camera moves through an inconspicuous alleyway in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna (zip code 1130). The shot is in black and white, shaky and the image is upside down. At the end, a short shot shows the street sign of the road. The camera quickly pans away and gets lost in the black.

The street is named after an advocate of anti-Semitic and misogynist theories.

1I12

Austria 2023
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Editors: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Runtime: 3 minutes 15 seconds
Original Format: 16mm, b&w, silent

Screening Format: 16mm and DCP

Filmstill

In the city of Innbruck, about 92% of all streets named after significant individuals carry the names of men, while only 8% of the streets are named after women. The film 1I12 documents all locations in Innbruck named after women. One shot at a time, they enter the viewer’s field of vision, as we gradually draw ever closer to the city center. 1I12 is a kind of inventory, a contribution to an active culture of remembrance and gender equality as well as a critical examination of the representation of women in public space, which can also symbolically stand for other areas of society. This is the third and last part of the "Presence"-triology (Presence, 1I15 and 1I12).

AíOLOS

Austria 2023
Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk
Runtime: 3 minutes 24 seconds

Original Format: digital, colour, sound

Screening Format: DCP

A small caterpillar resits the advertisities of existence. Aíolos is an existential parable about being on planet earth and the beauty and horror inherent in resistance.

Shot on the Greek island Tinos. In Greek mythology, Tinos is the birthplace of the wind god Aíolos.

MORE TRACES

Austria 2022
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Post-Production: Johannes Gierlinger
Runtime: 3 minutes 28 seconds
Original Format: 16mm, color & b/w, silent

Screening Format: 16mm and DCP

more traces negotiates the global phenomenon of climate crisis on a local level, in the context of a single city. The short film portrays sculptures of animals located in the public space of the city of Vienna. Shot on two days in the Viennese winter of 2021/22, more traces focuses on concrete sculptures of animals that are native to a tropical climate. Perhaps this is an accurate glimpse into the not-too-distant future in which people will only know elephants, kangaroos or hippos from zoos, pictures and sculptures?

World premiere: Manofim – Jerusalem Contemporary Art Festival 2022

MEDITERRANEAN

Austria 2022
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Post-Production and Sound-Design: Hannes Ziegerhofer
Runtime: 2 minutes 26 seconds
Original Format: 16mm, b&w, sound

Screening Format: 16mm and DCP

The Mediterranean Sea is still a popular holiday destination for many people from Europe. Based on the first verse of a hit song from the 1950s, the film questions the idealized image of the Mediterranean as a place of longing. Can we still look naively and impartially at the Mediterranean today? What eludes perception and whose perspectives on the Mediterranean are (not) taken up in the collective perception.

With the support of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna – MA 7 and the Foreign Film Scholarship of the City of Graz

World premiere: Kassel DokFest 2022, Germany
this human world - International Human Rights Film Festival 2022, Austria
Vienna Shorts 2023, Austria

Traces

Austria 2021
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Post-Production: Johannes Gierlinger
Runtime: 3 minutes 26 seconds
Original Format: 16mm, colour, silent
Screening Format: 16mm and DCP

traces negotiates the global phenomenon of climate crisis on a local level, in the context of a single city. The short film portrays all sculptures of Arctic animals located in the public space of the city of Vienna. Shot in the hottest summer on record, traces focuses on polar bears, seals and penguins in an extremely hostile environment. Perhaps this is an accurate glimpse into the not-too-distant future in which people will only know polar animals from zoos, pictures and sculptures?

With the support of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna – MA 7 and the Otto Mauer Fund

World premiere: Manofim – Jerusalem Contemporary Art Festival
Acquired by the City of Vienna for their contemporary art collection (Wien Museum MUSA) and the Regional Government of Styria (Neue Galerie Graz)

1I15

Austria 2020
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Voice: Karolina Preuschl
Post-Production: Johannes Gierlinger
Runtime: 3 minutes 23 seconds
Format: 16mm, b&w, silent

In the city of Graz, about 94% of all streets named after significant individuals carry the names of men, while only 6% of the streets are named after women. The film 1I15 documents all locations in Graz named after women. One shot at a time, they enter the viewer’s field of vision, as we gradually draw ever closer to the city center. 1I15 is a kind of inventory, a contribution to an active culture of remembrance and gender equality as well as a critical examination of the representation of women in public space, which can also symbolically stand for other areas of society.

With the support of the Regional Government of Styria - CINEART and the Cultural Office of the City of Graz

World premiere: Kassel DokFest 2021, Germany
NonStopScheiner, during the Orange the World Campaign 2021 to End Violence against Women, Opernring 17, Graz, Austria
Hedwig, Paula & Co., Bettina Landl, Architektur Steiermark, 2021

PRÄSENZ / PRESENCE

Austria 2020
Directors, Producers, Cinematographers: Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko
Post-Production: Johannes Gierlinger
Runtime: 6 minutes
Original Format: 16mm, b&w, silent

In most cities, women are severely underrepresented in the urban landscape — a far cry from gender parity. In Vienna, about 90% of all places and streets named after people bear the names of men. The film PRÄSENZ brings Viennese locations named after women into view and closer to the awareness of the viewer. Similarly to what happens in our perception while we traverse public space, the 397 areas bearing women’s names flash up on the film screen one at a time, a single shot dedicated to each. The countdown effect in these shots, which begin at the periphery and move towards the city center, draws attention to the significance and distribution of places named after women. PRÄSENZ is a kind of inventory, a contribution to an active culture of remembrance and gender equality as well as a critical examination of the representation of women in public space, which can also symbolically stand for other areas of society and reflect the reality of other cities.

With the support of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna - MA7, Otto Mauer Fund, and the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria

World premiere: Kassel DokFest 2020, Germany
this human world - International Human Rights Film Festival 2020, Austria
Regensburger Kurzfilmwoche 2021, Germany
Internationales Frauenfilmfestival Dortmund | Köln 2021, Germany
CURRENT - Kunst und urbaner Raum. Glitsch-Kitsche, Stuttgart 2021, Germany
Öffentlicher Raum und Geschlechtergerechtigkeit - Ein Kurzfilm. Interview with Aleksandra Kolodziejczyk and Karl Wratschko in [fernetzt]

Deluge Contemporary Art's online exhibition Repeat as Necessary (April 10 through May 8, 2026)

Award: EXP:AN:DED SHORTS JURY AWARD at this human world - International Human Rights Film Festival 2020, Austria
Acquired by the City of Vienna for their contemporary art collection (Wien Museum MUSA)