SYNOPSIS
Anna Maria is a middle-aged Austrian woman who lives alone in a well-knitted house in Vienna. When she doesn't work in the hospital, she cleans her house thoroughly. She doesn't feel alone; she has Jesus; she loves Jesus. This unconditional love to god empowers her to overcome the temptations of her flesh, by praying and by methodically using all sorts of self-punishments.
She is a member of a small ultra-religious group which tries to bring back the Catholic faith to Austria; when she takes a break from her work instead of going to vacations, she tries door to door, to bring God to the poor neighborhoods, which are occupied mostly by immigrants.
Although her faith is strong, it is going to be challenged not only by the various reactions of the people that she tries to approach, but also back home, where her past is vividly present. Her crippled Muslim husband is back and demands a share of her love, who offers gladly only to Jesus.
Awards
Special Jury Prize, CinemaAvvenire Award | Venice IFF, Italy, 2012
CAST & CREW
Ulrich Seidl
Director
Producer(s)
Michael Andre, Philippe Bober, Christine Ruppert, Ulrich Seidl, Konstantin Seitz
Script
Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
Director of Photography
Edward Lachman Wolfgang Thaler
Production designer
Max Linder
Sound
Ekkehart Baumung
Edit
Christof Schertenleib
Cast
Maria Hofstätter, Nabil Saleh, Natalya Baranova
Production company(ies)
Ulrich Seidl Film Production GmbH, Société Parisienne de Production, Tatfilm
Ulrich Seidl
Born 1952, Vienna, Austria. Ulrich Seidl is the director of numerous award-winning documentaries such as Jesus, You Know, Models and Animal Love. His work methods include achieving the greatest possible authenticity and showing people in the most solitary and personal moments- has aroused intense debate. His first fiction feature Dog Days won the Grand Jury Special Prize at the 2001 Venice IFF. Seidl’s second feature film Import/Export has been sold to 20 countries. The film has won three prizes (Bangkok, Golden Apricot, Yerevan and Palic Tower (for the best acting ensemble Palic (Serbien). The film has been invited to about 80 festivals so far including Munich, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Sarajevo, Toronto, London, Copenhagen, Sao Paolo and Seoul. Two retrospective screenings (in La Rochelle and Sarajevo) have shown Ulrich Seidl’s previous work, with two further retrospectives in Belgium and Sweden. Seidl’s 2012 film Paradise: Love competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes IFF.
Filmography
One Forty (1980, doc., short), The Prom (1982), Look 84 (1984), Good News: von Kolporteuren, toten Hunden undanderen Wienern (1990, doc.), Loss Is to Be Expected (1992, doc.), The Last Real Men (1994, doc.), Animal Love (1995), Bilder einer Ausstelung (1996, TV doc.), The Bosom Frined (1997, TV doc.), Fun without Limits (1998, doc.), Models (1999), Dog Days (2001), State of the Nation: Austria in Six Chapters (2001, doc.), Jesus, You Know (2003, doc.), Brothers, Let Us Be Merry (2006, doc.), Import/Export (2007), Paradise: Love (2012), Paradise: Faith (2012), Paradise: Hope (2013).
