SYNOPSIS - MACONDO
A 2014, 98 min., Dolby 5.1, 24 fps, 1:1,85, languages German / ChechenRamasan has a lot of responsibility for an 11-year-old. In traditional Chechen society, he is now considered the man of the house in charge of his mother and two younger sisters. His world is now centered in Macondo, a tough ethnic neighborhood in the industrial suburbs of Vienna.
Ramasan speaks German much better than his mother Aminat, and he often translates for her regarding school and government welfare matters. Aminat is still coping with having lost her husband, fleeing Chechnya and trying to make ends meet as a single mother and foreigner in a new society.
Ramasan's confined world is disrupted when Isa, his father's war buddy, moves into the low-income housing complex. Isa pays his respects to Aminat and her children, giving them the watch and a family photo his dead friend always carried with him.
This encounter awakens Ramasan's interest in his father. He seeks Isa's company, but the outsider remains secretive about the past. Isa gradually opens up and a bond evolves between them that helps young Ramasan face and overcome his worst fear. Isa could become a new, much more human, father figure than the boy's abstract memory of the war hero at the family altar. But when Aminat begins to warm up to Isa, conflicted Ramasan feels the need to protect the image of his dead father…
Trailer - Macondo
CAST - MACONDO
SUDABEH MORTEZAI (Writer & Director)Born 1968 in Ludwigsburg, Germany, to Iranian parents, Sudabeh grew up in Tehran and Vienna. She received her MA in theater and film studies from the University of Vienna in 1994. After completing UCLA's certificate program in Film, TV, and Digital Entertainment Media in 2003, Sudabeh worked as an assistant director and production manager and directed several short films before making her feature-length documentary "Children of the Prophet". 2007 co-founder of FreibeuterFilm. MACONDO is her fiction debut.
Filmography / (selection):
IN THE BAZAAR OF SEXES
A 2009, Documentary, 85 min
Best International Documentary, DocsDF, Mexico 2011
Main Award, Espiello Ethnographic Film Festival, Spain 2011
Nomination Best Documentary, Austrian Film Award 2011
CHILDREN OF THE PROPHET
A 2006, Documentary, 86 min
Competition First Appearance Award, IDFA, Amsterdam 2006
CAST
Ramasan - Ramasan Minkailov
Isa - Aslan Elbiev
Aminat - Kheda Gazieva
Askhab - Askhab Umaev
Deni - Hamsat Nasuhanow
Rosa - Rosa Minkailova
Iman - Iman Nasuhanowa
Champascha - Champascha Sadulajev
Masud - Masud Abdiasis
Refugee Councelor - Anna Resch
Watchmaker -Otto Bayer
Security Guard - Christian Dungl
Social Worker - Andreas Weiss
Digger Park Owner - Paul Hofer
Police Officer - Denise Teipel
Police Officer - Florian Kissler
CREW
Written & directed by Sudabeh Mortezai
AD - Bernadette Weigel
Research Assistant - Johannes Gierlinger
Casting - Eva Roth
DOP - Klemens Hufnagl
AD - Andreas Winter
Gaffer - Arnold Graggaber
Gaffer - Marion Priglinger
Original sound - Atanas Tcholakov
Production Design - Julia Libiseller
Props - Juliane Gstättner
Costume Design - Carola Pizzini
Editor - Oliver Neumann
Sound Design - Atanas Tcholakov, David Almeida-Ribeiro
Sound Mix - Bernhard Maisch
Producers - Oliver Neumann, Sabine Moser
Executive Producer - Sabine Moser
Production Secretary - Vassili Firsov
Accounting - Eva Trenka
Production Coordination - Lena Krins
Production Manager - Carmen Weingartshofer
Set Unit Manager - Florian Eidenhammer
Gallery - Macondo
Press comments - Macondo
...a wonderfully engaging, absorbing coming of age/culture clash tale ... an absolutely astonishing performance from its young, effortlessly natural lead Ramasan Minkailov...superb performances, authentic context and impressive filmmaking…(Jenny Kiang, Indiewire)
Sudabeh Mortezai's first narrative feature is modest in scope yet entirely captivating in the docu-style humanism of its approach, enriched by unsentimental compassion for its characters.
(David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter)
This sensitive Austrian social drama from docu helmer Sudabeh Mortezai focuses on a refugee settlement outside Vienna ... a deeply humanist perspective well suited to international festival travel.
(Peter Debruge, Variety)
Eine feine Studie über Kindheit und Männlichkeit, genau beobachtet und berührend, weil die Regisseurin nicht von der Seite ihres Helden weicht. Ein Film mit einem großen Herzen.
(Lars-Olav Beier, Spiegel Online)
...a modest, unflashy but utterly assured slice of realism about an 11-year-old Chechen boy living with his mother and sisters in a Viennese suburb populated mainly by refugees. There's not a great deal of plot, but so richly detailed and resonant is Mortezai's account of the boy, his predicament and his milieu that she ensures his moral, psychological and physical welfare are of urgent concern soon after the film starts.
(Geoff Andrew, BFI)
Au travers d'une approche sensible, la réalisatrice impressionne la réalité de l'enfant et, au-delà, celle d'une pleine situation sociétale. Lumineux.
(Nicolas Gilson, Un Grand Moment de Cinéma… ou pas!)
Festivals - Macondo
Berlinale 2014 - Official CompetitionHong Kong International Festival 2014 - Firebird Award
Festival del Cinema Europeo 2014- Cineuropa Award & Best Script
Festival Internacional de Cinema d'Autor de Barcelona 2014
Seattle IFF 2014
Sydney Film Festival 2014
Scarborough Film Festival 2014 - Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014 - Variety Critics' Choice: Europe Now!
Paris Cinéma Le Festival 2014
Guanajuato International Film Festival 2014 - Special mention for best performance
Melbourne International Film Festival 2014
LUX Prize 2014 Official Selection
Sarajevo International Film Festival 2014 – CICAE Award
Paris Cinéma Le Festival 2014
Seoul International Youth Film Festival 2014
ESPOO Ciné 2014
Nara IFF 2014 - NARAtive Competition
BFI London Film Festival 2014 - First Feature Competition
Zürich IFF 2014
Bergen IFF 2014
Festival du Film des Femmes de Salé 2014
Haifa IFF 2014 - Filmmakers of tomorrow / Fedeora Competition
Film Fest Gent 2014
Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival 2014 - International Competition
Mumbai Film Festival 2014 - International Competition
Das Filmfest 2014 - Festival deutschsprachiger Filme
Variante - Viennese Film Prize
Contact - Macondo
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Fax +43-720-346510-99
welcome@freibeuterfilm.at
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Fax: +49 30 695 378 51
info@filmsboutique.com
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