After the right-wing election landslide, four directors set out across Austria searching for signs of the political and social situation of its citizens. They looked for microcosms and found people in whose lives the political and private intersect. Four directors, four perspectives, four realities. In his segment, Ulrich Seidl confronts everyday racism that spirals into an absurd xenophobia.
Austria 2002 | German | 85 min | DV Cam | Faz 35 mm | 1:1,85
Directors: Barbara Albert, Michael Glawogger, Ulrich Seidl, Michael Sturminger | Camera (Ulrich Seidl's segment): Ulrich Seidl | Editor: Karina Ressle | Sound: Ekkehart Baumung | Production manager: Max Linder | Producers: Klaus Pridnig, Erich Lackner | Cast: (Ulrich Seidl's segment): Johann Leeb, Getrud and Friedrich Schmeiser
Production company: LOTUS FILM GesmbH | Mollardgasse 85a, Stiege 1 | 1060 Vienna, Austria
T +43 1 7863387 | F +43 1 7863387 - 11 | E office@lotus-film.at | www.lotus-film.at
"The idea for the film crystallized in 1999 when, for security reasons, the inauguration of the new, conservative coalition of the far-right Freedom Party was held underground. Austria was suddenly politicized, nobody wanted to remain silent. But the goal of State of the Nation was not to talk about the government, but rather about the governed: Austrian women and men, their daily lives, their fears, their notions of national identity, their desires. It was meant to be a film of resistance. But against all of us. " – Ulrich Seidl
"A polemic, but a thrilling film."
Christoph Huber, Die Presse
"At the grassroots, where the filmmakers went looking, it is depressingly clear what they turned up: political illiteracy, latent if not open xenophobia, fear of Muslims, insecurity and - among the women - a mindless adherence to the role model of servant. A real movie, truly chilling."
Awards
Special Prize, Festival di Populi, Florence
Festivals
World premiere: Diagonale Festival in Graz, 2002
2nd Transylvania International FF Cluj, 6th Jihlava International Documentary FF, 9th IFP FF Los Angeles, 10th Sheffield International Documentary Festival, 14th Alpe Adria Cinema FF Triest, 14th Espoo Ciné IFF, 15th IDFA Amsterdam, 16th Singapore IFF, 18th Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival Munich, 21st Minneapolis-St. Paul IFF, 22nd Istanbul IFF, 24th Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis Saarbrücken, 26th Grenzland-Filmtage Selb, 26th Göteborg FF, 29th Internationales Filmwochenende Würzburg, 34th Visions du Réel Nyon, 35th IFF Auckland, 36th Internationale Hofer Filmtage, 43rd Festival dei Popoli Florence, 46th Regus FF London, 55th Locarno IFF, Bermuda IFF, Cycle of Documentary Film Lisbon
Filmstills: 13x7cm / 300dpi / jpg / ca. 250kb
© Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion
