Happy 90th to Viennale President - Producer Eric Pleskow

The legendary Hollywood producer Eric Pleskow is celebrating his 90th birthday on Thursday, April 24. Born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1924, he fled from the Nazi terror in 1939 and moved to the United States where he made a great career in the film business. He received 12 Oscars and numerous awards, including the Honorary Citizenship of Vienna and the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria. In addition, he has been the president of the Vienna International Film Festival, the Viennale, for the last 17 years.

“Eric is a wonderful person, and a close and generous friend,” says Viennale director Hans Hurch, adding, “and I dearly wish for him and for us that he’ll be able to return to Vienna as often as possible with all his vigilance, wit and irreconcilability.”

The Viennale and Filmarchiv Austria will commemorate Eric Pleskow’s great jubilee by dedicating to him a cinema hall bearing his name in Vienna’s new Metrokino.

Photo credits: © Robert Newald, Alexi Pelekanos