– The Slovak-Austrian filmmaker is preparing her third feature, centred on a Holocaust survivor struggling to rebuild her life in post-WWII Europe
Director Alexandra Makarová
Following the critical and awards success of Perla, Slovak-Austrian filmmaker Alexandra Makarová is developing her third feature, Fanny lebt (lit. “Fanny Lives”), a historical drama set in the aftermath of World War II.
Set two years after the end of the war, the story follows Fanny, a Holocaust survivor who remains in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp while awaiting permission to emigrate to Palestine. Her plans are disrupted when her husband, Karl, unexpectedly finds her after a long search and attempts to convince her to return to the society that she once wanted to see go up in flames.
Makarová once again writes and directs the project, continuing the auteur-driven approach that characterised her previous work. Her feature debut, Crush My Heart, had its world premiere at the Diagonale in Graz, before being entered in the main competition of the Art Film Fest Košice. Her sophomore effort, Perla, premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam last year before embarking on a successful festival run, earning the FIPRESCI Prize at the Art Film Fest in Košice and emerging as the major winner at the 2026 Austrian Film Awards, where it collected eight trophies, including Best Feature (see the news).
Fanny lebt already received screenplay-development support from the Austrian Film Institute in 2025 and has now secured additional backing from the Vienna Film Fund. The film is being produced by Lixi Frank and David Bohun for Vienna-based PANAMA Film, whose recent slate includes Sandra Wollner‘s Cannes Certain Regard film Everytime and London by Sebastian Brameshuber, which premiered in the Berlinale Panorama. It also co-produced Valeska Grisebach’s Cannes title The Dreamed Adventure. Further financing is currently being assembled as the project moves forwards through development.
