Since January 2023, the Austrian Film Institute has had its own GREEN FILMING DEPARTMENT.

The rapid development of green filming in Austria and Europe is also something that film funding bodies need to take seriously. Implementing it in funding guidelines and the funding system requires know-how, expertise, and professionalism to work with the film industry and funding applicants to make sure everything’s in place for it to happen in practice. Seriousness and credibility are really important.

Two Green Film Consultants have been supported by the EVERGREEN PRISMA competence center since 2019 and trained at the EVERGREEN PRISMA ACADEMY.

Contact: greenfilming@filminstitut.at

Our Team

Mag. Nina Hauser has been working at the Austrian Film Institute since 2018. In 2019, she was tasked with anchoring the topic of sustainability at the Austrian Film Institute and thus in cinema film funding. Under the motto “ÖFI Goes GREEN”, the initiative was launched in 2020 with the addition of new guidelines. This was followed by the development of a Green Filming Action Guide and information events on the topic of green filming and funding.

In 2022, Nina Hauser played a key role in developing the guidelines and funding regulations for the Green Bonus System – Green Bonus 5% ÖFI+ and, in collaboration with EVERGREEN PRISMA, the Association of Green Film Consultants Austria (VGFCA) and Philip Gassmann, developed the criteria catalogue of minimum ecological standards for Austrian cinema film productions ÖFI/ÖFI+. This was also harmonized by FISAplus (the funding agency of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labor and Economy) and implemented in its guidelines.

Nina Hauser is considered as an international expert on green filming and funding and has been active in European working groups and collaborations for many years. Here you can find everything you need to know about ÖFI-Green’s national and international collaborations.

Her focus in the Green Filming Department is on vision and communication:

  • Strategy Austria/Europe
  • National and pan-European cooperation
  • Exchange with the national and international film industry
  • Networking in Austria and abroad
  • Lectures in Austria and abroad

Christian Ruthner, MSc, has been working at the Austrian Film Institute since 2023. He has long been passionate about sustainability. His awareness of sustainability issues in film was awakened in 2020 by the EVERGREEN PRISMA, through webinars on the umbrella topic of green filming, and by an inspiring keynote speech by Philip Gassmann at the Austrian Film Academy Day in the same year.

During his business studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, he specialized in sustainability and looked at all aspects of sustainability from different perspectives.

He joined the Green Filming Department at ÖFI in 2023. At the same time, he is completing a master’s degree in Sustainability and Responsible Management to further deepen his knowledge and skills.

His focus in the Green Filming Department is on reporting, facts, and numbers:

  • Reports (ÖkoBusiness, etc.)
  • CO2 accounting
  • Further development of recycling methods Cinema release Green Bonus System 5%
  • Research
  • Networking in Germany and abroad