Bruno Kreisky Specials

Art, culture and social transformation: We guide a multi-voiced dialogue as an add-on to the film, offer political analysis by experts and activists, and promote democratic discourse in the cinema.

The focus is on selected films that shed light on historical events as well as current global challenges and highlight their lasting consequences. The cinematic perspective is complemented by panel discussions, which provide a political context and in-depth analysis.
Through linking cinema and political dialogue, the Bruno Kreisky Forum aims to contribute to a better understanding of complex contexts and to foster democratic discourse – in the spirit of the Kreisky method: open, dialogical, and critical.

See you in Filmcasino and City Cinema!

Curated and moderated by Philipp Blom, historian and journalist, we bring internationally renowned intellectuals, academics and cultural figures to the stage of the “Libelle”, the roof-top of the MuseumsQuartier. The dragonfly, an insect a thousand times older than homo sapiens, symbolises what we aim for in the MQ Talks: Just as the dragonfly has adapted in terms of anatomy and lifestyle and thereby survived, the insect is associated in various cultures with change, freedom and transformation. This is also what the MQ Talks are about – overcoming obstacles courageously and leading conversations allowing for new perspectives on the challenges of our time. The cooperation between MQ and the RD Foundation enables us to do so.

The events take place in the MQ Libelle takes place at MuseumsQuartier, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna.

Every year, we honor Bruno Kreisky with an event on the 22nd of January. Prominent representatives from politics, business, academia and culture are invited to deliver a keynote speech and/or take part in a panel discussion. What were Bruno Kreisky’s visions, and what does he have to say to us today and for the future? Whatever topic is at stage, it is guided by the motto that was core to Kreisky: ‘The courage to embrace the unfinished’. It was this attitude that gave him the courage to pursue reforms, to explore alternative approaches, and to engage in dialogue with those who think differently than himself. These principles have remained also our guiding principles.

Bruno Kreisky Prize for Services to Human Rights was founded in 1976 to mark Bruno Kreisky's 65th birthday, as he himself did not wish to accept personal gifts. Many companies and institutions, also those not necessarily affiliated with Austria's social democratic camp, raised the endowement capital. The prize has been awarded every two years to individuals, groups, institutions, or projects that have shown outstanding services to human rights. The award winners are selected by both the Board of Trustees of the Bruno Kreisky Foundation and an international jury. This jury has included, among others, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Willy Brandt, Olof Palme, Roland Dumas, and his son Peter Kreisky.

The Bruno Kreisky Award for the Political Book has been presented annually since 1993 by the Karl Renner Institute in collaboration with the Social Democratic Education Organisation. In line with the life's work of Bruno Kreisky, this award honours political books and publications that champion freedom, equality, social justice, solidarity, democracy and social cohesion, tolerance and artistic freedom.

Beyond the main award for the Political Book, an award for a journalistic oeuvre, a special prize for the thematic area „Worlds of Work – Worlds of Education,“ an award for special achievements in publishing, and awards of recognition are presented.

The award is made possible through cooperation with the Social Democratic parliamentary group and the support of numerous sponsors. The Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue is represented on the jury and serves as a logistical partner.

The “Ari Rath Prize for Critical Journalism” was awarded for the first time in 2018 and has been supported by Wien Energie. Established through a private initiative, the prize honours journalists who, in the spirit of Ari Rath – the renowned former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post who passed away in January 2017 – have rendered outstanding service through their work in providing critical reporting on flight, displacement and asylum that is committed to defending human rights.

Ari Rath, the committed and successful journalist, was forcibly expelled at the age of 13 on 2 November 1938, after the Nazis seized power. He found a new home in Palestine and later in the State of Israel. Ari Rath belonged to the generation of politicians such as Yitzhak Rabin, Teddy Kollek, and Shimon Peres, and was an advisor to Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister since1948. In his late years, Ari Rath lived primarily in Vienna and was as a critical voice urging democratic and peaceful cooperation among people in Israel and Austria. As a witness to Nazi terror, he repeatedly spoke up against racism and xenophobia and conveyed this message in many lectures and discussions with students.

Austrian and international publishers have co-operated with the Bruno Kreisky Forum in presenting new publications and in discussing current topics.

These include:

Book Vienna
Campus Verlag
Czernin Publishing House
Mandelbaum Publishing House
Picus Verlag
Residenz Verlag
Suhrkamp Verlag
Zsolnay Publishing House