Ulrich Seidl: “My films see places that many people do not want to look at”

One of the Austrian director’s most controversial films ‘Love’One of the parts of Seidl’s ‘Paradise’ trilogy. sex tourism. However, rather than focusing on what straight white men were doing in places like Cuba or Thailand, it depicted what middle-aged Western women enjoyed with young black men in Kenya.

“Heaven. Love It was my most successful movie. Although it is watched by many female viewers, The men considered this as a provocation. Perhaps this was because they saw women who did not meet aesthetic standards, who did not have normative bodies, who were old, overweight, but existed even if they had a partner, even if they did not have a partner. To do this, head to the Kenyan coast. I think he even had some form of penis envy. Moreover, my aim in the film was never to show the situation of the victims and executioners, a situation in which women benefit from the situation of these men. What emerged? Love he was the one mutual contractual relationship Here, some women received sex, love and affection, while the other part, men, received the money.

Ulrich Seidl spent the last few days in Madrid, participating in the international auteur and experimental film festival Márgenes, currently held in different venues such as the Spanish Film Library and the Matadero Cinema Library, where he received the Special Prize of this festival. activity. . Recognition of his entire career has developed over the last two decades, and this includes a dozen films shot with complete independence, outside the traditional film industry and major studios, but with the support of public cultural institutions.

“All countries must do everything possible to create a public culture that is not measured solely by success.. Today, measuring museums, theaters or libraries by their audience numbers and success is a huge problem. This causes museums to design programs designed to attract people’s attention; but one does not realize that this affects people. quality of culture. Among other things, this is not the purpose of the museum, because such a focus on business ultimately means that bold projects are not realized,” he explains, defending the actions of public institutions in many areas of life, apart from culture, in the recent elections in Argentina, in the context of widespread neoliberalism: “Education is accessible to everyone It should be, and the same goes for water, water should not be commercialized because it is unacceptable for some to do that.” Doing business with something that belongs to all of us citizens.”

Documentary

Ulrich Seidl started his career as a filmmaker by making documentary films. daily life the existence and bringing to light of different social groups, such as a group of models or ardent Christians unknown aspects For example, what do citizens of Austrian society keep in the basements of their homes? Although their most recent productions, including the trilogy Heaven or the binary it creates ‘‘Rimini and Sparta’ are fictional films, they still have a documentary spirit, which continues to create confusion and discomfort in those who approach them.

“I always cross the boundaries between documentary and fiction. I make documentaries that don’t look like that and My fiction films have a clearly documentary style. This means; Even though it’s a fiction, the audience is unsure. “What is shown is so authentic and the people in my films are so real that it is easy to doubt whether what is seen is real or not,” explains Seidl, whose mise-en-scène strengthens the sense of reality. Natural locations are of great importance. “Space has been a part of my film language since my first film. became part of it. Although it’s something I found intuitively, I noticed this: The person’s relationship with the place is very important. Using these open shots tells more about the characters than if I approached them with a camera or wrote long dialogue.”