Our Host: Bad Hofgastein – a Town with Soul
„It is a magical place. I knew immediately: this is where you have to put on a film festival“, recalls CALL Film Festival founder Christina Zappella-Kindel, looking back on a short holiday in the Gasteinertal in 2024 that ultimately led to the creation of this event.
Nestled in the unique mountain world of the Austrian Alps, the Gasteinertal offers something that has become rare in today’s festival landscape: space. Space to pause, space for genuine encounters, and space for thoughts that reach beyond the moment. Far from the noise of the great metropolises, a special kind of calm unfolds here in Bad Hofgastein – one that deepens conversations, opens up perspectives, and brings people together in a natural way.
In the heart of the valley lies Bad Hofgastein – a place rich in tradition that has always stood for hospitality, health, and quality of life. Surrounded by imposing peaks, clear mountain air, forests, and healing thermal springs, Bad Hofgastein combines an experience of nature with cultural openness and international flair. For generations, guests from all over the world have met here to draw new strength and find inspiration.
It is precisely this atmosphere that makes Bad Hofgastein the ideal setting for the CALL Film Festival. For a festival committed to „Movies with a Cause“ needs more than just screens and halls – it needs a place with soul. A place where films can resonate, where discussions can arise, and where ideas can grow.
The breathtaking natural backdrop also reminds us of how precious and worth protecting our environment is. In this way, the Gasteinertal itself becomes a symbol of one of the festival’s central guiding ideas: CALL for Nature. Equally, the openness and tranquillity of the place create the ideal setting for dialogue, understanding, and a peaceful coexistence – entirely in the spirit of CALL for Peace.
Bad Hofgastein is therefore not only a host, but part of the festival’s vision. Here, beauty, attitude, and inspiration come together to form an experience that reaches far beyond the cinema.
Our Host: Eva Irnberger
There are places that are more than just a backdrop. Bad Hofgastein is one such place. Nestled among the majestic peaks of the Hohe Tauern, situated at the broadest and sunniest point of the Gasteinertal, our town has always been a place of attraction for people in search of something: healing, inspiration, or encounter. Where once it was artists, nobles, and thinkers, today it is guests from all over the world who find their way to us – and who return.
Because Bad Hofgastein welcomes you differently. The air is clearer, the pace slower. That is no coincidence, but the very essence of our town – a market community that has known for centuries that true recovery, true reflection, and true encounter need space.
It is a great pleasure to me that the CALL Film Festival 2026 has chosen precisely this space. A festival committed to meaningful cinema – one that asks questions and shows attitude – and that for this chooses a place which itself has attitude. That is no coincidence!
But our town brings more to the festival than just atmosphere and an alpine panorama. It offers conditions that cannot be reproduced in a major city: three exceptional venues, all in the heart of the town centre and within walking distance of one another.
The venerable Kursaal – built in 1916 as the cultural heart of the spa town – carries more than a century of host-town history within its walls. It was already a stage, a salon, and a „Wandelhalle“ long before the word „event location“ had even been invented.
The Bad Hofgastein Congress Centre stands for modern infrastructure with an alpine character: versatile, professional, and inviting – a place where film talks and master classes can take place on equal footing.
And the Alpenarena opens the festival up into nature – an open-air venue for up to 2,500 people, where cinema becomes a special experience – under the open sky and with a magnificent view of the Schlossalm.
That the CALL Film Festival does not take place behind closed doors, but right in our midst – that reflects the self-image of Bad Hofgastein. We are a lively spa and holiday destination of 6,700 residents who are proud of what defines their valley: the healing thermal springs, the well-tended alpine pastures and natural landscape, and the hospitality, which is not staged but lived.
On behalf of the Spa and Tourism Association and all those who call Bad Hofgastein their home, I warmly welcome all guests, filmmakers, thinkers, and creators of the CALL Film Festival. May this valley give you what it has been able to offer for centuries: vastness, depth – and just the right distance from the world to see it a little anew!
Most cordially,
Eva Irnberger
Managing Director, Bad Hofgastein Spa and Tourism Association
