Michaela Grill

Multimedia Cultural Centre Split, as part of the Novi šum 2026 program, presents a film cycle that will take place at the Amphitheatre of Dom mladih. Screenings begin at the end of March and will precede the concerts within the program.

While the musical segment of Novi šum focuses on contemporary alternative and electronic music, the film program expands it both thematically and conceptually, maintaining genre curiosity and openness. Through a selection of documentary portraits, film essays, and experimental titles, the cycle creates dialogues between filmmakers and musicians, explores innovative sound practices, the history of the avant-garde, the social role of music, as well as the future of sonic expression.

Admission to all screenings is free, and films are shown with Croatian subtitles.

PROGRAM

• April 24 at 19:30 | Soundtrack Dialogues for Short Film (51′)

The Great White Emptiness, dir. Michaela Grill (AT, 2015, 16′)

An audiovisual contemplation of Arctic horizons and the soundscapes of Philip Jeck.

• Joy, dir. Jodie Mack (US, 2005, 3′)

An abstract animation created directly on film for the Four Tet project.

• Black and White Tryptych No. 3, dir. Ben Russell (US, 2007, 12′)

A transformation of the audience into a ritual trance of the highest order at a noise concert by the legendary Lightning Bolt.

• Reel to Reel, dir. Stefano Canapa (FR, 2020, 20′)

A diptych on transitions from reel to reel, from magnetic tape to film, inspired by the improvisational skill of Jérôme Noetinger.

Its always special for me to present work at the Diagonale. Festival des österreichischen Films. It’s the place where I’ve presented my first film, where I had my first retrospective and nearly cried on stage when I won a prize.
It makes me very happy that this year I can present my first feature length film „When Fire Turns to Ash“ and I’m very thankful to Claudia Slanar and Dominik Kamalzadeh for the selection.

The screenings are on Saturday, 21.03., 17:00, Schubertkino 2 and Monday, 23.03., 11:00, Annenhof Kino 5.

I will be there in person and look forward to another fun Diagonale!

https://www.diagonale.at/filme-a-z/?ftopic=finfo…

VIENNA 2026

with Steve Bates ·Martin Brandlmayr ·Stephanie Castonguay ·Gabriela Gordillo · Michaela Grill ·Christof Kurzmann ·Mark Molnar · Noid · Sophie Trudeau ·Elizabeth A. Vajagic · Sara Zlanabitnig

What’s up Vienna! What’s up Montréal! is a cross-cultural event series and multimedia festival that connects Vienna and Montréal as vibrant centres of experimental music, sound art, performance, film and video. The series, which was first held in 2010, is curated by Michaela Grill, Christof Kurzmann and Steve Bates and brings together artists from both cities to explore new artistic concepts and interdisciplinary working methods. The focus is on cross-border artistic encounters: the participating positions demonstrate the diversity and independence of their experimental approaches by performing together, collaborating and developing innovative formats. Projects and performances range from audiovisual experiments to performative interventions that make local scenes visible and promote international networking. The series offers participating artists the opportunity to initiate longer-term collaborations and explore creative potential beyond established conventions.

Programm

23. April 2026, 8pm, Echoraum
Sophie Trudeau / Michaela Grill
Stephanie Castonguay / Gabriela Gordillo
Mark Molnar / noid / Martin Brandlmayr

24. April 2026, 8pm, Echoraum
Mark Molnar / Sara Zlanabitnig
Elizabeth Anka Vajagic / Steve Bates / Christof Kurzmann

I am so exited for the world premiere of my first feature length film at the Native Women in Film Festival, March 9-13 in Los Angeles/US at The Grove. When Fire Turns to Ash explores how the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Tierra del Fuego remains inscribed in the landscape. Developed over three years in close collaboration with the Selk’nam and Yahgan communities, this essay film proposes a decolonial reading of the territory.

Thank you to my team: Nick Kuepfer, Mariana Frandsen, Alba Chaile, Miguel Pantoja Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, Barbara Pichler and Harris Newman.

I will forever be indebted to the Selk’nam and Yaghan communities who opened their hearts and shared their stories with me: Daniela Bogarin, Alba Chaile, José Gonzalez Calderon, Estela Maris Maldonado, Margarita Maldonado, Rubén Maldonado, Miguel Pantoja, Maria Salamanca,Maria Olinda Vargas, Tarsicio Vargas, Teresa Catalina Vargas, Tahali Ayelen Villanueva, Luis Gomez Zarranga!

You can watch the entire interviews unedited at: https://www.youtube.com/@migrill

is part of the competition at the Iran International Documentary Film Festival „Cinema Vérité“ and will be screened on Sunday Dec 14th at 5.30 at Mellat Cineplex, Salon 4 in Tehran. I will be there and am very exited about it!

In the last couple of years I have worked intensely with Indigenous communities in Tierra del Fuego for my new film „When Fire Turns to Ash“. For the film I have interviewed many Selk’nam and Yagán people and two of these interviews plus some stills from the film are now included in the exhibtion „PUSHAKI KE’IÚ (fire today). Stories from the Yagán and Selk’nam peoples“ at the Museo Etnográfico „Juan B. Ambrosetti“ in Buenos Aires.

All the interviews are available in their entirety on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@migrill

I have been so deeply impacted by the time and stories they shared with me that I really miss words to describe it. If you are in Buenos Aires, please take the time and listen to them and if you are not, please check out the interviews on youtube.

Save the date for “Earth (Okâwîmâw Askiy – ᐅᑳᐧᒫᐊᐧᐢᑭᕀ)”, a 12-hour event from 12 noon to 12 midnight (CST) on December 12th.

“Earth (Okâwîmâw Askiy – ᐅᑳᐧᒫᐊᐧᐢᑭᕀ)” follows on the heels of 2020’s You, 2021’s And, 2022’s I, 2023’s Are, and 2024’s Water. It is the sixth in a series of twelve annual events taking place on December 12 from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Each year the event moves through each word of the 12-word phrase, ‘You And I Are Water Earth Fire Air Of Life And Death’, to activate the word of the year in myriad ways.

This year’s event is hosted and presented by the University of Saskatchewan Art Galleries and Collection from its ROUNDING space at the Kenderdine Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

The curators of the event are Christof Migone and jake moore.

The event will feature kihci-okāwīmāw askiy, Christina Battle, Sepideh Behrouzian, Joshua Bonnetta, Andrew Denton, Tanya Doody, Michaela Grill, Ufuk Ali Gueray, Jessica Karuhanga, Masha Kouznetsova, Karl Lemieux, Ella Dawn McGeough, Erica Mendritzki, Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri (Jackson 2bears), Cassie Packham, Parsons & Charlesworth, Dawit L. Petros, Danielle Petti, Laura St. Pierre, Arielle Walker, Aurora Wolfe, Melanie Zurba, amongst others.

Presenting partners: the Centre for Sustainable Curating, and Otekh.

Streaming partners: Naisa, Radio Bloc Oral, Radius, Resonance Extra, and Wave Farm.

As with past editions the event will be streamed live on YouTube.

You can now watch The Great Thaw on Tënk Canada – Le cinéma documentaire en ligne for the next 3 months. Thanks for the selection Emilie Poirier!

Situated between scientific documentary and sensory experimental cinema, The Great Thaw is a melancholic and mesmerizing epic that reveals the contours of our ecosystems and humanity’s impact on them. In this audiovisual work of the Anthropocene era, the notion of traces is masterfully explored by filmmakers-performers Michaela Grill and Karl Lemieux. The viewer is quickly led to reflect on existential questions: What does humanity leave behind on this already fragile Earth? Are we aware of the gravity of what we leave? Are we truly conscious of our individual impact? The cinematography is larger than life, while the reality it depicts is profoundly alarming. Permafrost melts before our eyes, just as the future darkens. Grill and Lemieux’s strength lies in making us feel the effects of climate change visually, skillfully alternating between sublime imagery and stark, unsettling facts. A grand, universal work—essential to experience in today’s context. (Émilie Poirier)

Some of you might know that I have been involved in a research project about mental health and filmmaking for a while now. Our first findings have just been published and you can read them here:

Loosening the Grip: An Exploration of Women’s Lived Experiences of Psychological Distress Through Filmmaking

by Eliza Farber, Ian Gold, Michaela Grill, Lawrence Joseph & Abby Lippman

is screening as part of A Topographical Summit at Remai Modern in Saskatoon on Oct 5th at 1pm. Free entrance!