INTERVIEW
THE PEOPLE'S MOVIES
Sofia Topi
February 10, 2026
In a near food-apocalyptic reality on Earth, humans have gone extinct. Traces of the built environment evince their former existence in a visually striking opening sequence. Haunted and eerie, the world of Hungry is, in fact, inhabited only by insects, plants, and stones. The void it leaves behind feels strangely cathartic, especially when seen from the vantage point of today.
Read more:
https://thepeoplesmovies.com/interview-susanne-brandstaetter-on-her-curious-sci-fi-documentary-hungry-iffr-2026/
Sofia Topi
February 10, 2026
In a near food-apocalyptic reality on Earth, humans have gone extinct. Traces of the built environment evince their former existence in a visually striking opening sequence. Haunted and eerie, the world of Hungry is, in fact, inhabited only by insects, plants, and stones. The void it leaves behind feels strangely cathartic, especially when seen from the vantage point of today.
Read more:
https://thepeoplesmovies.com/interview-susanne-brandstaetter-on-her-curious-sci-fi-documentary-hungry-iffr-2026/
INTERVIEW
THE SPOT MEDIA & FILM
Barbara Schuster
February 4, 2023
Susanne Brandstätter über „Hungry“: „Das Recherchieren ist eine Besessenheit von mir“
Mit ihrem neuen Dokumentarfilm „Hungry“ feierte die in Wien lebende Amerikanerin Susanne Brandstätter Weltpremiere beim 55. International Film Festival Rotterdam. Dort trafen wir sie, um über das Science-Fiction-Szenario ihrer beeindruckenden Arbeit zu sprechen.
Read more:
https://the-spot-mediafilm.com/news/interviews/susanne-brandstaetter-ueber-hungry-das-recherchieren-ist-wie-eine-besessenheit-von-mir
Barbara Schuster
February 4, 2023
Susanne Brandstätter über „Hungry“: „Das Recherchieren ist eine Besessenheit von mir“
Mit ihrem neuen Dokumentarfilm „Hungry“ feierte die in Wien lebende Amerikanerin Susanne Brandstätter Weltpremiere beim 55. International Film Festival Rotterdam. Dort trafen wir sie, um über das Science-Fiction-Szenario ihrer beeindruckenden Arbeit zu sprechen.
Read more:
https://the-spot-mediafilm.com/news/interviews/susanne-brandstaetter-ueber-hungry-das-recherchieren-ist-wie-eine-besessenheit-von-mir
INTERVIEW
CALIGARI
Laura Santos
Your film is told from the perspective of a “Being” that discovers human extinction — a very original and powerful narrative device that gives the story an almost philosophical dimension. Why did you choose to use this non-human figure as the narrative thread instead of a traditional documentary approach?
I developed this figure to spark curiosity and create a heightened sense of suspense for viewers as they explore this future world alongside the Being. At the beginning of the film, you don’t know who the Being is or why it is even interested in showing you anything, and that uncertainty becomes a mystery you want to solve. By crafting an enigma on both visual and auditory levels, I hope to draw you progressively deeper into the film as you search for answers. You begin to identify with and adopt the Being’s perspective. In other words, you are also searching for clues alongside this mysterious Being, which gathers and pieces together evidence while trying to understand what happened. You become a participant in the archaeological reconstruction of what appears to be our now-extinct world. And by prompting you to wonder “who is making the film,” I hope the story also leads you to reflect, here and now, on who will survive if we continue along our current path.
Read more:
https://caligari.com.ar/en/interview-with-susanne-brandstaetter-director-of-hungry/
Laura Santos
Your film is told from the perspective of a “Being” that discovers human extinction — a very original and powerful narrative device that gives the story an almost philosophical dimension. Why did you choose to use this non-human figure as the narrative thread instead of a traditional documentary approach?
I developed this figure to spark curiosity and create a heightened sense of suspense for viewers as they explore this future world alongside the Being. At the beginning of the film, you don’t know who the Being is or why it is even interested in showing you anything, and that uncertainty becomes a mystery you want to solve. By crafting an enigma on both visual and auditory levels, I hope to draw you progressively deeper into the film as you search for answers. You begin to identify with and adopt the Being’s perspective. In other words, you are also searching for clues alongside this mysterious Being, which gathers and pieces together evidence while trying to understand what happened. You become a participant in the archaeological reconstruction of what appears to be our now-extinct world. And by prompting you to wonder “who is making the film,” I hope the story also leads you to reflect, here and now, on who will survive if we continue along our current path.
Read more:
https://caligari.com.ar/en/interview-with-susanne-brandstaetter-director-of-hungry/
INTERVIEW
BUSINESS DOC EUROPE
Nick Cunningham
February 2, 2026
In Hungry, which world-premiered February 2 in IFFR’s Harbour section, Austrian director Susanne Brandstaetter serves up a sobering account of how, in the not-so-distant future, humankind has allowed itself to become extinct.
But with no humans left on Earth to explain exactly why this, it is left to an alien visitor to the planet determine the sequence of events, the “cause and effect,” that led to our demise as a species. Luckily, expert transcripts remained, comprising data from scientists and professors alike that the alien can assess; all the time his search for evidence conducted against a backdrop of post-apocalyptic devastation. These experts, from the fields of biology, ecology, botany, economics, food politics, agriculture and (anti)monopoly law, describe in depressing detail our inability as a species to act as protectors of the planet that had previously sustained us.
The alien investigator hears how the likes of soil erosion, depleted agricultural biomes and climate-change hugely reduced the nutritional value of the food we once consumed, leading it to conclude: “Humans managed to make food – the very thing they needed to survive – into something that helped them not to survive.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Read more:
https://businessdoceurope.com/iffr-harbour-hungry-by-susanne-brandstaetter/
Nick Cunningham
February 2, 2026
In Hungry, which world-premiered February 2 in IFFR’s Harbour section, Austrian director Susanne Brandstaetter serves up a sobering account of how, in the not-so-distant future, humankind has allowed itself to become extinct.
But with no humans left on Earth to explain exactly why this, it is left to an alien visitor to the planet determine the sequence of events, the “cause and effect,” that led to our demise as a species. Luckily, expert transcripts remained, comprising data from scientists and professors alike that the alien can assess; all the time his search for evidence conducted against a backdrop of post-apocalyptic devastation. These experts, from the fields of biology, ecology, botany, economics, food politics, agriculture and (anti)monopoly law, describe in depressing detail our inability as a species to act as protectors of the planet that had previously sustained us.
The alien investigator hears how the likes of soil erosion, depleted agricultural biomes and climate-change hugely reduced the nutritional value of the food we once consumed, leading it to conclude: “Humans managed to make food – the very thing they needed to survive – into something that helped them not to survive.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Read more:
https://businessdoceurope.com/iffr-harbour-hungry-by-susanne-brandstaetter/
INTERVIEW & CLIP
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Georg Szalai
February 2, 2026
If you have just been waiting to see a sci-fi documentary, Hungry is for you. If you care about the future of the planet and mankind, again, Hungry is for you. If neither applies to you, but the idea of a sci-fi doc created by a mysterious Being sounds intriguing, check out an exclusive clip from Hungry that THR can exclusively debut.
Read more:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hungry-film-clip-sci-fi-documentary-rotterdam-iffr-2026-1236492484/
Georg Szalai
February 2, 2026
If you have just been waiting to see a sci-fi documentary, Hungry is for you. If you care about the future of the planet and mankind, again, Hungry is for you. If neither applies to you, but the idea of a sci-fi doc created by a mysterious Being sounds intriguing, check out an exclusive clip from Hungry that THR can exclusively debut.
Read more:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hungry-film-clip-sci-fi-documentary-rotterdam-iffr-2026-1236492484/
INTERVIEW
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Georg Szalai
January 26, 2026
‘Hungry’ Director on Her Sci-Fi Doc About a World Without Humans That Is “a Call to Action”
In the new film from Susanne Brandstaetter, world premiering at Rotterdam, a "Being" is searching for clues for mankind’s extinction: "It's essential to provoke audiences to think more about this."
Read more:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hungry-sci-fi-documentary-film-interview-director-iffr-2026-1236484314/
Georg Szalai
January 26, 2026
‘Hungry’ Director on Her Sci-Fi Doc About a World Without Humans That Is “a Call to Action”
In the new film from Susanne Brandstaetter, world premiering at Rotterdam, a "Being" is searching for clues for mankind’s extinction: "It's essential to provoke audiences to think more about this."
Read more:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hungry-sci-fi-documentary-film-interview-director-iffr-2026-1236484314/
ANNOUNCEMENT
SCREEN DAILY
UK’s Impronta Films acquires Rotterdam “sci-fi” doc ‘Hungry’
Read more:
https://www.screendaily.com/news/uks-impronta-films-acquires-rotterdam-sci-fi-doc-hungry/5212875.article
UK’s Impronta Films acquires Rotterdam “sci-fi” doc ‘Hungry’
Read more:
https://www.screendaily.com/news/uks-impronta-films-acquires-rotterdam-sci-fi-doc-hungry/5212875.article