Documentary Films - Competition 2003 / Jesus, Du weisst / Austria 2003
Director Ulrich Seidl followed six believers into the intimacy of a church and shot independent portraits of people who place every hope in religion.
People enter the church, sit down on a pew and pray to Christ: their father, friend, saviour, and silent and loving listener. They are supported by prayers which smoothly transfer into confession. Remarkable Austrian director Ulrich Seidl followed six believers into the intimacy of the church and shot individual portraits of lonely people who place every hope in religion. The director put these six condensed life stories into a highly purist form that places decisive stress on the word, imbued with deep inner pain. With the necessary agreement of those portrayed, Seidl chose to completely uncover hidden thoughts (till then intended only for Christ) conditioned by their varied emotions. His very daring and seemingly controversial conception astonishes for the degree of authenticity capturing the individual creeds. The film, however, demands an attitude from the viewer stripped of prejudice and conventional ideas of religious practices.
87 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Ulrich Seidl
/ Screenplay Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
/ Dir. of Photography Wolfgang Thaler, Jerzy Palacz
/ Editor Christoph Schertenleib, Andrea Wagner
/ Producer Martin Kraml
/ Production MMKmedia
/ Contact MMKmedia, Austrian Films
Ulrich Seidl (b. 1952, Vienna) came to film rather late, by cooperating on the script for Michael Glawogger Krieg in Wien (1989). He then focused on documentaries portraying intimate aspects of human life in a disturbing way; these brought Seidl to the attention of international critics and audiences. Several years in the making, his feature debut Dog Days, screened last year at Karlovy Vary, took the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 2001 Venice IFF. Filmography: Good News – Von Kolporteuren, toten Hunden und anderen Wienern (1990), Loss Is To Be Expected (Mit Verlust ist zu rechnen, 1992), The Last Real Men (Die letzten Männer, 1994), Animal Love (Tierische Liebe, 1995), Bilder einer Ausstellung (1996), Busenfreund (1997), Models (1998), Spass ohne Grenzen (1998), Zur Lage (2001), Dog Days (Hundstage, 2001), Jesus, Du weisst (2003).
MMKmedia
Kirchmeyergasse 9, A - 1130, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 1 955 1515
Fax: +43 1 955 151 556
E-mail: [email protected]
Austrian Films
Stiftgasse 6, 1070, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 152 633 23
E-mail: [email protected]
Martin Schweighofer
Film Institution Rep.
Anne Laurent-Delage
Film Institution Rep.
Ulrich Seidl
Martin Kraml
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
