EUFF 2022: Fox in a Hole

Austria | Arman T. Riahi | 2020 | 103 min

Set in a juvenile correctional facility, Fox in a Hole revolves around teacher Hannes Fuchs (Aleksandar Petrović), newly assigned to work at its school for troubled youth. In his late thirties with his own dark past and personal demons, Fuchs (whose surname translates as “Fox”) starts working alongside professor Elisabeth Berger (Maria Hofstätter, also seen in The Orchestra, Slovenia’s EUFF selection this year), whose unorthodox teaching methods seem to work but rub him the wrong way. Since this facility’s classroom is filled with troublemakers from all strata of Austrian society, Fuchs tries to instill a more structured, disciplined approach. His efforts are frustrated, however, by one particularly problematic student, a Bosnian girl named Samira (Luna Jordan). Incarcerated for putting her father in a coma, she seems ready to explode at any moment. As Samira and Fuchs develop an uneasy relationship, everything will change. But for the better? In German and Bosnian with English subtitles.

Best Actress, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, Score, Sound Editing, 2022 Austrian Film Awards

“A society- and period-specific spin on a well-tested subgenre, Fox in a Hole is still very much its own animal.” Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa