Press Release #1/26
Looking Ahead to the 23rd Crossing Europe Film Festival / YAAAS! News / MIOB Festival Network: Journalism Lab
04.02.2026 // 2026 marks the 23rd time that Linz will become the scene of the present and future of European cinema: Held from 28 April to 3 May, Crossing Europe will see emerging as well as established filmmakers presenting their recent works on the big screen and providing fascinating behind-the-scenes insights. Around 140 feature, documentary, short, and experimental films will open new perspectives, and, in the context of the Local Artists program section, will also provide impressive proof of the creativity and quality of filmmaking with a connection to Upper Austria.
The festival’s ambition since its inception has been to appreciate film as an art form, and, at the same time, to make the program depict its sociopolitical relevance. The hundreds of films from throughout Europe that were submitted for this year’s edition of Crossing Europe until early January comprise a wide variety of artistic and thematic approaches.
“That pleasant excitement felt in a movie theater just before the screening starts is something you won’t get in front of your screen at home. Ideally, the films you see at a festival will begin to communicate with each other. Just like the audience before or after a screening. The barrier to confront oneself with challenging topics, in our experience, is lower in a festival context, as it provides you with an opportunity where they can, immediately after, be addressed in a safe setting. But naturally it’s also supposed to be fun – what makes us happy is when the audience feels welcome and has a great time at the festival.” – Sabine Gebetsroither and Katharina Riedler, Festival Directors.
The festival program will be presented during a press conference on 16 April (also available via live stream) and will be available online on crossingeurope.at from 17 April.
YAAAS! Youth Section: Young Programmers, School Screenings, and Club YAAAS!
2026 means round eight for the YAAAS! Youth Program and for its efforts to fill youths with enthusiasm for film and the collective experience at the cinema. In addition to the feature film competition YAAAS! Competition and school screenings, there will be practically oriented offers providing an opportunity to get a taste of the film sector, including a group video project under expert supervision and a workshop.
The YAAAS! Young Programmers 2026 – Hannah Holzweber and Julian Hüttl (HTL Bau und Design Linz), Cassandra Feiken, Valerie Paar, and Hannah Polterauer (HBLA für künstlerische Gestaltung), and Lena Maria Pichler (HLW für Kommunikations- und Mediendesign) – are entrusted with selecting the six entries for the YAAAS! Competition. Moreover, they receive an introduction to film curating, develop their text on the selected works in a workshop, and during the festival, they will moderate the YAAAS! screenings’ introductions as well as film talks.
Moving Images – Open Borders (MIOB) Festival Network: Lab of Cultural, Creative and Festival Journalism, and Other Activities
The successful international cooperation within the framework of the European film festival network Moving Images – Open Borders continues in 2026. The project is funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA program and unites six film festivals with a European program focus.
One core project is the Lab of Cultural, Creative and Festival Journalism. Held in collaboration with Cineuropa, its fifth edition this year will take place at several of the network’s festivals, including, for the first time, Crossing Europe. In April, an international group of young film critics and journalists will be given the opportunity to attend the festival free of charge and to take writing workshops
In 2026, as part of MIOB, a professional green consultant will once again attend Crossing Europe and evaluate the ongoing festival work on the basis of sustainability parameters. An important part is also the MIOB NEW VISION AWARD (€3,000), honoring a debut or second European fiction feature or documentary feature film. As in the two years before, the award will again be presented in the context of Crossing Europe. Also, a network-spanning audience survey will, for the second time after 2024, be carried out during the festival.
The elaborate press release, logo, festival motif and press photos are available as usual on our website.
The festival’s ambition since its inception has been to appreciate film as an art form, and, at the same time, to make the program depict its sociopolitical relevance. The hundreds of films from throughout Europe that were submitted for this year’s edition of Crossing Europe until early January comprise a wide variety of artistic and thematic approaches.
“That pleasant excitement felt in a movie theater just before the screening starts is something you won’t get in front of your screen at home. Ideally, the films you see at a festival will begin to communicate with each other. Just like the audience before or after a screening. The barrier to confront oneself with challenging topics, in our experience, is lower in a festival context, as it provides you with an opportunity where they can, immediately after, be addressed in a safe setting. But naturally it’s also supposed to be fun – what makes us happy is when the audience feels welcome and has a great time at the festival.” – Sabine Gebetsroither and Katharina Riedler, Festival Directors.
The festival program will be presented during a press conference on 16 April (also available via live stream) and will be available online on crossingeurope.at from 17 April.
YAAAS! Youth Section: Young Programmers, School Screenings, and Club YAAAS!
2026 means round eight for the YAAAS! Youth Program and for its efforts to fill youths with enthusiasm for film and the collective experience at the cinema. In addition to the feature film competition YAAAS! Competition and school screenings, there will be practically oriented offers providing an opportunity to get a taste of the film sector, including a group video project under expert supervision and a workshop.
The YAAAS! Young Programmers 2026 – Hannah Holzweber and Julian Hüttl (HTL Bau und Design Linz), Cassandra Feiken, Valerie Paar, and Hannah Polterauer (HBLA für künstlerische Gestaltung), and Lena Maria Pichler (HLW für Kommunikations- und Mediendesign) – are entrusted with selecting the six entries for the YAAAS! Competition. Moreover, they receive an introduction to film curating, develop their text on the selected works in a workshop, and during the festival, they will moderate the YAAAS! screenings’ introductions as well as film talks.
Moving Images – Open Borders (MIOB) Festival Network: Lab of Cultural, Creative and Festival Journalism, and Other Activities
The successful international cooperation within the framework of the European film festival network Moving Images – Open Borders continues in 2026. The project is funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA program and unites six film festivals with a European program focus.
One core project is the Lab of Cultural, Creative and Festival Journalism. Held in collaboration with Cineuropa, its fifth edition this year will take place at several of the network’s festivals, including, for the first time, Crossing Europe. In April, an international group of young film critics and journalists will be given the opportunity to attend the festival free of charge and to take writing workshops
In 2026, as part of MIOB, a professional green consultant will once again attend Crossing Europe and evaluate the ongoing festival work on the basis of sustainability parameters. An important part is also the MIOB NEW VISION AWARD (€3,000), honoring a debut or second European fiction feature or documentary feature film. As in the two years before, the award will again be presented in the context of Crossing Europe. Also, a network-spanning audience survey will, for the second time after 2024, be carried out during the festival.
The elaborate press release, logo, festival motif and press photos are available as usual on our website.
Comprehensive press release HERE: