Crossing Europe follows a number of principles that are reflected in the festival's work and in its relations with staff, audience, festival guests and partners.
Reflecting current socio-political realities and transformation processes, the hand-picked European films of each festival edition are intended to offer insights into different European realities of life. The film program is also shaped and enriched by productions from transitional areas such as film / visual arts, which portray music / sub- and youth cultures as well as LGBTIQA+ communities, or "hybrid" works that consciously refuse to be "genre-bound".
Creating an image of Europe in the "here and now" has been a challenge not only since the beginning of the war on Ukraine. In this context, Crossing Europe aims to provide an incentive to face up to this challenge in spite of or precisely because of this - within the framework of a film festival and as a social space, cinema can unfold its full power and provide cinephile insights into a continent with a complex history, a conflict-ridden present and a hopefully better future.
As a special offer for young people up to the age of 20, there is also a youth festival pass with a price reduction of over 50 percent compared to the regular festival pass.
Violence, bullying and harassment of any kind (e.g. physical, verbal, sexual, on social media) towards team members, visitors, guests and partners will not be tolerated. Crossing Europe reserves the right to expel or deny access to any person who violates the Code of Conduct.
Crossing Europe asks its employees as well as its partners, guests and festival visitors not to ignore or tolerate misconduct, but to seek help or contact the festival team (either on site or by email at to the awareness contact person).
Crossing Europe strives to promote sustainable and climate-friendly measures in all areas of festival preparation and implementation and will also bear the Green Event OÖ label in 2024.
The festival would like to invite its partners and visitors to also contribute to a climate-friendly festival experience. This includes, for example, using public transport to get to and from the festival or separating and avoiding waste at the festival venues.
Within our team, we pay attention to sustainable strategies and methods in our day-to-day activities. In addition to ecological aspects, intensive personal contacts with our event partners, sponsors and supporters are also important to us, with whom we strive for long-term, partnership-based cooperation in order to promote sustainable behavior in a goal-oriented manner.
Details of Crossing Europe's environmental and climate-friendly measures can be found at crossingeurope.at/green.
SUPPORTING EUROPEAN CINEMA
As a cross-border project, Crossing Europe has been pursuing the goal of reflecting the diversity, heterogeneity and multilingualism of Europe and its regions through the presentation of European cinematic art for 20 years.Reflecting current socio-political realities and transformation processes, the hand-picked European films of each festival edition are intended to offer insights into different European realities of life. The film program is also shaped and enriched by productions from transitional areas such as film / visual arts, which portray music / sub- and youth cultures as well as LGBTIQA+ communities, or "hybrid" works that consciously refuse to be "genre-bound".
Creating an image of Europe in the "here and now" has been a challenge not only since the beginning of the war on Ukraine. In this context, Crossing Europe aims to provide an incentive to face up to this challenge in spite of or precisely because of this - within the framework of a film festival and as a social space, cinema can unfold its full power and provide cinephile insights into a continent with a complex history, a conflict-ridden present and a hopefully better future.
Low-threshold exchange between audience and film guests
Discussion, discourse and reflection are integral components of Crossing Europe, both in interaction with the audience and with numerous event partners. The presence of film guests from Germany and abroad and the low-threshold opportunity for exchange are therefore indispensable features of Crossing Europe.Supporting the young generation of European filmmakers
Crossing Europe aims to provide a platform for young European filmmakers. As a concrete measure, for example, only debut and second films are programmed in the Competition Fiction section. Other program elements such as the Cinema Next Europe Club further underline this objective.Representation of "low capacity countries"
As Austria's second largest international film festival, Crossing Europe attaches great importance to the presentation of films from so-called "low capacity countries", i.e. European countries with a smaller or structurally disadvantaged film industry and productions which, despite international festival successes, do not find a place in the regular cinema circuit.Gender-Programming and Diversity
In the selection of the program, the team and the invitation policy, diversity (including geographical, linguistic, artistic) and a balanced gender programming are essential criteria; the number of films under male direction makes up a maximum of 50 percent of the film program of a festival edition.Networking of European film festivals
To promote European cinematic art, Crossing Europe plays a key role in the collaboration of film festivals at a European level: the festival network MIOB - Moving Images - Open Borders, initiated by Crossing Europe, has existed since 2017 as an association of seven international film festivals with a European program orientation. The aim is to strengthen cooperation on an artistic, programmatic, organizational and technological level in order to establish a best-practice model for European networking in the long term. Further information on MIOB and the network's activities can be found at crossingeurope.at/miobGetting young people interested in the medium of film
With the YAAAS! Youth Program launched in 2019, Crossing Europe has set itself the goal of inspiring young people for the medium of film and teaching media skills with a comprehensive program of film education and DIY video production. All information on the content of the YAAAS! Youth Program can be found at crossingeurope.at/yaaas.As a special offer for young people up to the age of 20, there is also a youth festival pass with a price reduction of over 50 percent compared to the regular festival pass.
FOR RESPECTFUL, APPRECIATIVE & DEMOCRATIC RELATIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER
Crossing Europe is committed to social and respectful interaction, fair working conditions and an open, appreciative and democratic corporate culture, both internally and externally. This applies to work within the team as well as in our relations with cooperation partners and funding bodies and in our communication with the public. We also expect our visitors to treat each other with consideration and respect. To this end, Crossing Europe has drawn up a Code of Conduct, which is a prerequisite for participation in the festival (e.g. by agreeing to it when purchasing tickets).Against discrimination, harassment and violence in any form
Discriminatory, offensive or harassing language and actions based on gender identity, sexual orientation, origin, age, appearance, skin color, religion, disability, economic disadvantage, level of education or political conviction (within the framework of the rule of law) have no place either in the festival work or in behavior during the festival. This also applies to conduct in the digital space and in connection with Crossing Europe's presence on social media.Violence, bullying and harassment of any kind (e.g. physical, verbal, sexual, on social media) towards team members, visitors, guests and partners will not be tolerated. Crossing Europe reserves the right to expel or deny access to any person who violates the Code of Conduct.
Crossing Europe asks its employees as well as its partners, guests and festival visitors not to ignore or tolerate misconduct, but to seek help or contact the festival team (either on site or by email at to the awareness contact person).
Self-critical assessment of discrimination and inclusion
Crossing Europe strives to continuously and critically address forms of discrimination and exclusion as well as the potential for improvement within its own structures and festival modalities. Depending on capabilities and financial resources, the festival strives to make access to the festival program more inclusive and also asks for the help of its partners, guests and visitors in the form of constructive criticism, suggestions for improvement and general feedback.CLIMATE-FRIENDLY AND SUSTAINABLE FESTIVAL ORGANIZATION
Crossing Europe ist bemüht, nachhaltige und klimaschonende Maßnahmen in allen Bereichen der Festivalvorbereitung und -umsetzung voranzutreiben und trägt auch 2024 das Label.Crossing Europe strives to promote sustainable and climate-friendly measures in all areas of festival preparation and implementation and will also bear the Green Event OÖ label in 2024.
The festival would like to invite its partners and visitors to also contribute to a climate-friendly festival experience. This includes, for example, using public transport to get to and from the festival or separating and avoiding waste at the festival venues.
Within our team, we pay attention to sustainable strategies and methods in our day-to-day activities. In addition to ecological aspects, intensive personal contacts with our event partners, sponsors and supporters are also important to us, with whom we strive for long-term, partnership-based cooperation in order to promote sustainable behavior in a goal-oriented manner.
Details of Crossing Europe's environmental and climate-friendly measures can be found at crossingeurope.at/green.
