Fantastic World

Colour, 35 mm
Spain, 2003, 70 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

“Mundo fantástico” is the peepshow where Alice works. Though a stripper in an erotic booth she dreams of being an actress. She shares this dream with her girlfriend Susi. Evenings, the two appear at cabaret dives, performing their comic musical routine in the most eccentric of homemade costumes. But the concerns of their everyday lives begin to gradually threaten their dreams and even their friendship. While the unemployed Susi must endure humiliating interviews for jobs she couldn’t care less about, Alice futilely scans the want ads and calls around to agencies. She becomes familiar with corrupt environments where one must pay for contacts. Susi has a bit more success. She’s younger and earns her living as an artist’s model. One day she even meets a photographer named Jota, leaving Alice to continue dreaming of a relationship. Soon Susi announces that she´s going to quit their cabaret performances. Alice realizes that she should leave the peepshow but she doesn’t have the courage. All the same she knows that someday she’s got to return to real life.

About the director

Max Lemcke (b. 1966) has been producing short films in the past five years. Directing filmography: the documentary Pepe le Mouro (1993), La vida imposible (1995), You Are All Called Mohamed (Todos os llamáis Mohamed, 1997 – awarded at the Huesca IFF and the Valencia IFF 1998), Paleopolis (1998), the experimental six-minute film Pequeňas historias entre ventanas y teléfonos (2000 – Best Director at the 2000 Madrid Experimental Film Week, Best 16 mm Film at the 2000 San Roque International Week of Short Film, Best 16 mm Film at the 2000 Electrozine International Film Festival in Ibiza).