09/06/2006

For his third feature (after Tuvalu, which won him Best Director at the 1999 Bavarian Film Awards, and Gate to Heaven in 2003), the young but already experienced Veit Helmer (Hannover, 1968) wanted to see things on a big scale: the recent casting of his latest film Absurdistan required the collaboration of casting directors from 28 countries to assign the film’s 22 roles to 2,100 candidates. The lead character will be played by Maximilian Mauff (Kombat 16).

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The idea for the film – which will shoot from June 26-August 26 in Azerbaijan – came from a small article on a battle of the sexes that the women of a Turkish village imposed on men until they repaired the water system. The script, developed by Helmer with Gordan Mihic (Chat noir, chat blanc) and Zaza Buadze, received funding from Sources2, MFI (Mediterranean Film Institute) and the MEDIA New Talent programme.

The director, who also produced the film with his company Veit Helmer Filmproduktion, has made several shorts; in 1995, he also co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced The Brothers Skladanowsky (Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky) with Wim Wenders.

(Translated from French)