REZA MAJDODIN

  • Reza Majdodin is an Iranian photographer and cinematographer living in Vienna since 2013. His artistic career began at the Art University of Tehran where he studied classical guitar and went with this subject to Vienna to the Prayner Conservatory. He additionally studied musicology at the University of Vienna. In 2019, as a Qualified Austrian Photographer, he co-founded Triangle Studio, which focuses on theater and art photography, producing portraits as well as videos in marketing and entertainment. Most recently, he was Director of Photography on the film "EDELWEISS."

  • "Reza Majdodin's scholarship deals with the topic of citizenship. With his camera, he accompanies people who - like himself - are in the citizenship process. Among them are many people who wait months or years for citizenship. He delves into the topic by accompanying experts and initiatives and focuses on the systematic discrimination in the entire naturalization process, which is carried out by MA35. The jury was convinced by the necessity and topicality of the subject and is furthermore very impressed by its artistic quality.

  • The documentary film "Antrag abgelehnt"( working title) explores the stories that are happening all around us all the time: This movie is about "new" Austrian citizens* and people who are currently in the application process. The film includes interviews with known and unknown persons who have experienced or are currently experiencing the process of "naturalization" in Austria as well as with experts (scientific and historical). The film outlines the context in which Austrian citizenship has developed historically (with a focus on the 20th century) and draws attention to the current situation in the Magistrate for "Immigration and Citizenship", MA35. "Antrag abgelehnt" is a film that shows how difficult it is to put down new roots - in an emotional, legal and social sense.

EVANGELISTA SIE

  • Evangelista works part-time for the journalists' association Netzwerk Recherche in the Nonprofit Journalism team and leads the "Increasing Diversity in Investigative Journalism" fellowship program. Evangelista brings experiences as a journalist, editor, project manager, and media founder (blackcitystories.org), holds a Master in Journalism and New Media as well as Economy and Society of East Asia, has successfully completed training on media and journalism innovation and participates in the Media Innovation Lab accelerator program and the Medienstart program for media founders2023.

  • “In digital times of a.i. and right-wing narratives spreading on social media, independent, transparent and solution-oriented journalism is more important than ever. Media houses should be a reflection of our society, but they are often an elitist, white ivory tower. Austria has a serious problem with racist structures - these can also be found in the Austrian media landscape. Evangelista wants to fight against this development with their project. In the course of the project, Evangelista deals with highly relevant questions: What is the reality of life for the Afro-diaspora in Austria? What challenges do young black people in Austria face? Evangelista convinced the entire jury with their project, the planning and the presentation. The jury also thinks that Evangelista's "The Chance" sends a clear signal for solution-oriented, anti-racist journalism, and the jury unanimously supports this signal.”

  • The Chance is a digital, live magazine for Black millennials in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland that challenges stereotypes and discrimination of African diasporans in media by producing solution journalism stories on Black-lived realities in German and English using innovative formats like short animation films and musical news jam productions. Our team consists mainly of Black and Afro-diasporic journalists and media professionals. We aim to drive holistic, empowering representations of and social change for Black/Afro-descendent people in German-speaking countries. Our previous (pan-European) pilot project, blackcitystories.org, was awarded with the Stars4Media Diversity Prize in 2020.

  • In her work, Vivian Crespo Zurita dedicates herself to performances, painting, and installations, employing various techniques and recycled materials. Her artistic career is woven with self-taught skills. In her work, she reflects on the ancestral power of women in her family and their spirituality. Vivian's art is a symbol of empowerment and an important tool in the fight against racist, sexist, and misogynistic discrimination faced by her as a Black woman. Her goal is to pass on a legacy to young Afro-diasporic individuals who are often made vulnerable in Austrian mainstream society.

  • Vivian Crespo Zurita presented a powerful project, one that not only is firmly connected to her previous works, but also shows new directions that are at the same time deeply personal and social. The project goes many steps further into connecting issues of colonisation, racism, migration, and patriarchal oppression to social co-existence and climate change. All these issues are put together in an impressive performative, site-specific proposal, in which the body that Crespo is binds a connection to the land, the locations she chose, the four elements –air, earth, fire, and water –, and the cardinal directions –South, East, West,and North. It is a wide-spreading site-specific performance, to be presented in different places and times in Vienna. Crespo shows her commitment to activism in a way that is both deeply aesthetic and spiritual, building a bridge between her ancestry and her status of migrant. Clothes made with recycled materials remind us of the waste that surrounds us, even if sometimes invisible to some privileged subjects, and that “we”, so-called “universal” humans, are not only part of Nature, but are Nature ourselves, thus breaking the traditional Western, colonial duality.

  • "Intersection of the Body and the Climate": In her project, Vivian brings to the forefront the exploitation of the Black body and the climate. The intersections between capitalist exploitation of Black bodies and the plundering of the planet Earth serve as the foundation for performances, workshops, and interviews. Ceremonies and performances in public spaces, as well as her costumes made from recycled materials, address the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air. Following the four cardinal directions, a performance on the theme of water is planned in the west of Vienna, earth in the south, fire in the east, and air in the north. The geographical center will be the Omofuma Memorial. At the end of the project, an exhibition is planned to showcase the documentation of the work through photos and videos.

VIVIAN CRESPO ZURITA