Import/Export
Austria, Germany, France
2007
141 Min
Color
1.66:1
English, German, Russian, Slovak
Synopsis
Two individual fates move in opposite directions. Olga, a nurse from the Ukraine, abandons her family to look for a better life in the West and ends up working as a cleaning woman in a geriatric ward in Austria. Paul, an unemployed security guard from Vienna, is looking a reason to get up in the mornings and heads East with his stepfather, ending up in the Ukraine. Two young people on the move, eager to start a new life, confronted with a rough reality. Two stories about the pursuit of happiness and material advantages, about the darker sides of sexuality and death, and about the difficulties of cleaning the teeth of a stuffed fox. –Cannes Film Festival
Director
Ulrich Seidl
Ulrich Seidl was born in Vienna in 1952 and grew up in the town of Horn in Lower Austria. He studied journalism, art history and drama in Vienna, supporting himself with odd jobs, before entering the prestigious Vienna Film Academy at the age of 26. In 1980 he made his first documentary, Einsvierzig. Following the controversy surrounding his second film, Der Ball (1982) – a wickedly satirical portrait of the graduation ball in his home town – Seidl was asked to leave the Film Academy. In 1990 he returned to the scene with the feature-length documentary Good News. Within the decade Seidl was to make seven more documentaries for cinema and television, winning much acclaim and many prizes for his work.
Hundstage – Dog Days, his first fiction film, was released in 2001 and won several important awards, beginning with the grand jury prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. The same year also saw the release of Zur Lage / State of… read more
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MarcusArcus
18May12
Import/Export(2007)-10/10->Import/Export is a bleak and tough film about life,never expressed from an optimistic point of view and the camerawork only helps the film get more bleak by showing us beautiful,yet miserable paintings.Raw,yet brilliant work.
bertrand moullier
29Mar12
This film is outstanding on every level. Seidl's commitment to his characters is something we rarely ever see in contemporary "indy" cinema. Import Export signals the arrival of a major European film maker whose vision and depth makes his compatriot Hanneke seem like a contrived nihilist. I unerstand that the unforgettable scenes in the Alzheimer ward have triggered controversy as to the degree to which Seidl may have behaved unethically in order to get what he wanted. But the result on the screen speaks for itself: the moral focus stays firmly on the flickering light of the main female character's compassionate nature, a tenuous ray of hope in a broken world. One of the most important films of the past decade, without a doubt.
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WORLD’S A TRADE MARKET AND YOU ARE MERCHANDISE
By Товарищ Петя. on August 13, 2010
Distinct Austrian hardcore documentary-maker Ulrich Seidl post yet another contribution in the public debate with new Import/Export_. Consequent in his documentarish narrative, Seidl continues… read review
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