Austrian Titles Garner International Interest at MIPTV 2022

Austrian drama and blue-chip documentary titles from ORF, ORF-Enterprise and Film Austria garnered interest from international broadcasters and platforms at MIPTV 2022.

Participants expressed interest in ORF UNIVERSUM’s new nature and history documentaries and series, which were presented on the opening night. Among the titles presented was the new docuseries The Egg—Bursting into Life.

Other new nature and history titles that garnered interest were Colombia—Wild and Free, Hudson River Wild, Lake Tanganyika—Africa’s Blue Heart, Life on the Wing—Miracle of Bird Migration, Slovenia—Where Nature Comes First and Qatar—Pearls in the Sand.

Buyers also showed interest in fictional content from Austria, including Soko Kitzbuehel, Tatort and Fast Forward, as well as the newest addition to the Soko franchise, Soko Linz.

ORF-Enterprise’s recent sales include Venus von Willendorf—The Naked Truth to YLE (Finland); Hudson River Wild and Colombia—Wild and Free to SVT (Sweden) and RTP (Portugal), which also picked up Portugal—Wild Land on the Edge; Messiah, Schubert in Stainz and Vespers of the Blessed Virgin to KTO (France); Soko Kitzbuehel to AMC and Atresmedia (Spain), Canal+ (France), Sky (Germany) and RTS (Switzerland); and Suburbia—Women on the Edge, Fast Forward and Walking on Sunshine to Olympusat (U.S.).

“ORF productions have a double impact: They ensure considerable reach among the home audience as well as attracting more and more viewers around the world,” said ORF-Enterprise CEO Oliver Böhm. “ORF-Enterprise rightly made a name for itself as a premium boutique for quality content with the multiple award-winning UNIVERSUM films and excellent entertainment.”

Armin Luttenberger, head of content sales international at ORF-Enterprise, added, “The importance of personal contact in a competitive market has become evident after the pandemic years, when meetings were mostly held digitally. There is a strong demand for high-quality Austrian productions from our best-selling genres, factual and drama. We were more than happy to personally present our fresh lineup to our long-lasting partners again.”

Gernot Lercher, head of natural history at ORF UNIVERSUM, noted, “Climate and environmental protection begin with an awareness of our natural treasures, our untouched scenic beauty and the endangered animal species. UNIVERSUM lives up to its responsibility to contribute to climate protection and is increasingly addressing the critical issues of pollution and climate. We want our nature films to provide an impetus for rethinking and to encourage viewers to behave in ways that conserve resources. The worldwide appeal of the UNIVERSUM documentaries contributes massively to spread this message.”

“The joint presence of Film Austria with ORF and ORF-Enterprise underlines the quality content from Austria, and it is a great opportunity to introduce the world market to the creativity of Austrian producers,” said Nikolaus Wisiak from the Austrian Producers’ Association Film Austria, looking back at MIPTV 2022.