Born in Austria in 1972, Jessica Hausner studied filmmaking at the Vienna Filmakademie. Her first short, Flora (1996), won a Leopard of Tomorrow at Locarno Film Festival, and was followed by Inter-View, her graduation film, which earned a Special Mention from the Cinéfondation Jury at the Cannes Festival in 1999. She set up her own production company called coop99 that same year with Barbara Albert, Antonin Svoboda and Martin Gschlacht. Her films Lovely Rita (2001) and Hotel (2004) both screened in Cannes and earned her international attention. Amour Fou, was selected to compete in Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Film award at LEFFEST' 14. Hausner returned to the festival the following year as a member of the jury. In 2017, she was appointed a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
