Jessica Hausner

Jessica Hausner is an esteemed Austrian film director, screenwriter, and a professor at Filmacademy Vienna. Born on October 6, 1972 in Vienna, Austria, she is the daughter of esteemed Viennese painter Rudolf Hausner. Her family is deeply rooted in the arts, with her sister Tanja Hausner being a costume designer and half-sister Xenia Hausner being a set designer and painter. Hausner pursued her interest in film at Filmacademy Vienna. In 1999, she co-founded a Viennese film production company named coop99, along with fellow directors Barbara Albert, Antonin Svoboda, and director of photography Martin Gschlacht. Her short film Flora (1995) and diploma Inter-View (1999) gained recognition at several European film festivals. She garnered international attention with her film Lovely Rita (2001), which broke free from the commercialized Austrian cinema dominated by comedies at that time. She was invited to join the jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival in 2002 and returned to Cannes in 2004 with her psychologically inspired horror film Hotel. After assisting Valeska Grisebach in Berlin, she released Lourdes in 2009, widely considered her best work. Hausner continued making headway in her career with films like Amour Fou and Little Joe, gaining critical acclaim and market success across countries. Hausner worked as a jury member at several Cannes Film Festival sections and became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2017. Today, she holds a professorship at the Film Academy Vienna and is highly recognized as one of the most outstanding Austrian directors of her time. Her recent works such as Club Zero continue to be celebrated and awarded in reputed film festivals and awards.