This feature documentary confronts two forms of human existence. Polish illegal immigrant Ewa is desperately searching for work in order to secure a better life for herself and her 8-year-old daughter. Estate agent Marold, on the other hand, is seeking a way out of his solitude by indulging in strange sexual practices. Destiny brings them together.
Austrian filmmaker Ruth Mader chose the theme of solitude and alienation for her feature debut. She confronts two worlds which sometimes cross paths, at other times pass each other by, and in which the wretchedness of lonely human existence assumes different forms. Polish woman Ewa stays on illegally in Austria with her 8-year-old daughter after the strawberry-picking season has ended. With the hope of a better life, she desperately seeks all kinds of work, along with countless other immigrants. – A middle-aged estate agent, Marold, lives alone after his divorce and seeks to satisfy his bizarre sexual habits. – Two completely different lifestyles but the same emptiness. The film is conceived as a documentary with a minimum of dialogue but, for all that, with unprecedented severe objectivity. The director sought to capture the isolation of “guest workers”, cut off from their native country, lacking privacy and suffering in wretched conditions. The struggle of the film’s title can assume various forms – the struggle for survival or the struggle to find compassion. The tragic human lot is laid bare from the very beginning and hope for victory is exceedingly hazy. The main role in the film is played by Polish actress Aleksandra Justa.
74 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Ruth Mader
/ Screenplay Ruth Mader, Martin Leidenfrost, Barbara Albert
/ Dir. of Photography Berhard Keller
/ Editor Niki Mossböck
/ Producer Ruth Mader, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
/ Production Struggle Films, co-production / koprodukce: Amour Fou Filmproduktion GmbH
/ Cast Aleksandra Justa, Gottfried Breitfuss, Martin Brambach, Margit Wrobel, Rainer Egger
/ Contact Austrian Films, AMOUR FOU Vienna GmbH
www: www.struggle.at
Ruth Mader (1974, Vienna) studied at the Vienna Film Academy and worked as an assistant director and head of casting in feature film and advertising. She began to make a name for herself with the short film Gfrasta (1999), for which she won the Max Ophuels prize at the Saarbrücken film festival. She also made the documentaries Endstation Obdachlos (1992) and Ready for What (1997) and the shorts Kilometer 123,5 (1994) and Null Defizit (2001). Her feature-length debut Struggle (2003) betrays her skills in documentary filmmaking and was based on her own private experiences (her father had a girlfriend from Eastern Europe who yearned for a better life in Austria).
Austrian Films
Stiftgasse 6, 1070, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 152 633 23
E-mail: [email protected]
AMOUR FOU Vienna GmbH
Lindengasse 32, A-1070, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 1 994 991 10
Fax: +43 1 994 991 120
E-mail: [email protected]
Martin Schweighofer
Film Institution Rep.
Anne Laurent-Delage
Film Institution Rep.
Gabriele Kranzelbinder
Production Company
Ruth Mader
Film Director
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