Program Guide - Cleveland International Film Festival

120 FILMS A – Z [P] The 37th Cleveland International Film Festival
UNITED AIRLINES WORLD TOUR
UNITED AIRLINES WORLD TOUR
Paradise: Hope
(Paradies: Hoffnung)
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
AUSTRIA, GERMANY, FRANCE 2013
91 minutes
Sunday, April 7 Thursday, April 11
7:15 PM I Code HOPE07 6:30 PM I Code HOPE11
While her mother goes to Kenya to frolic in the male sex trade
(told of in Paradise: Love) and her fanatical aunt evangelizes
and wars with personal demons (told of in Paradise: Faith),
young Melanie is sent to a diet camp. A sterile environment in
the Austrian mountains, Melanie’s days are a dull routine of
exercise, nutritional counseling, and sneaking off to the local
disco to drink. But Melanie has a young woman’s blossoming
hopes for a romantic and passionate life, and this cold environment
offers no outlet for it. As a result, Melanie becomes
obsessed with the camp’s doctor and director, a man 40 years
her senior. Obsession soon turns to love. In rebellion against
the orderly and antiseptic world around her, she will exert every
seductive tool at her command to bring her fantasies to life.
The third chapter in Ulrich Seidl’s extraordinary Paradise
Trilogy, PARADISE: HOPE brings his themes of love and faith
warring with reality to a remarkable, and hopeful conclusion.
(In German with subtitles) —C.R.
Producer~Ulrich Seidl Screenwriting~Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
Cinematography~Edward Lachman, Wolfgang Thaler Editing~Christof Schertenleib
Principal Cast~Melanie Lenz, Vivian Bartsch, Joseph Lorenz, Michael Thomas
Print Source~Strand Releasing / brandon@strandreleasing.com /
www.strandreleasing.com
About the Director~Ulrich Seidl was born in 1952 in Vienna, Austria. He is a
writer, producer, and director of both narrative and documentary films. He has
been nominated for awards at numerous international festivals, including the Palm
d’Or in Cannes. He has won both the Special Jury Prize and the Golden Lion at
the Venice Film Festival. Filmography~“Loss Is To Be Expected” (1992), “The
Last Real Men” (1994), “Tierische Leibe” (1996), “Models” (1999), “Dog Days”
(2001)—25th CIFF, “Jesus, You Know” (2003), “Import/Export” (2007),
“Paradise: Love” (2012), “Paradise: Faith” (2012), PARADISE: HOPE (2013)
Paradise: Love
(Paradies: Liebe)
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
AUSTRIA, GERMANY, FRANCE 2012
120 minutes
Sunday, April 7 Tuesday, April 9
2:10 PM I Code LOVE07 6:10 PM I Code LOVE09
Teresa has left Austria to celebrate a fifty-something birthday
at a resort in Kenya. It is, a friend assures her, a paradise for
older women seeking love from the local and always available
men. Hesitant at first, Teresa dips her toe into the erotic
waters of the male sex trade where beautiful Kenyan boys sell
“genuine” love as easily as they sell beads and carvings on
the beach. As her pursuits become more enthusiastic, the line
begins to blur between the exploiters and the exploited. With
marvelously realistic performances and unabashed sexuality,
PARADISE: LOVE captures moments of humor, eroticism,
and painful awkwardness as Teresa goes through a succession
of young lovers and a birthday orgy thrown by fellow female
guests. The film sharply distinguishes between the luxury
resort with the poverty around it, unblushingly exploring the
contrast between Teresa’s awareness of this mercantile world
and her hope that something real might exist in it after all.
Though standing alone, this is a thematic companion to
“Paradise: Faith” and “Paradise: Hope” and is a paradise
of telling and memorable moments. (In German and Swahili
with subtitles) —C.R.
Producer~Ulrich Seidl Screenwriting~Ulrich Seidl, Veronika Franz
Cinematography~Wolfgang Thaler, Ed Lachman Editing~Christof Schertenleib
Principal Cast~Margarethe Tiesel, Peter Kazungu, Inge Maux, Dunja Sowinetz,
Helen Brugat
Print Source~Strand Releasing / brandon@strandreleasing.com /
www.strandreleasing.com
About the Director~Ulrich Seidl was born in 1952 in Vienna, Austria. He is a
writer, producer, and director of both narrative and documentary films. He has
been nominated for awards at numerous international festivals, including the Palm
d’Or in Cannes. He has won both the Special Jury Prize and the Golden Lion at
the Venice Film Festival. Filmography~“Loss Is To Be Expected” (1992), “The
Last Real Men” (1994), “Tierische Leibe” (1996), “Models” (1999), “Dog Days”
(2001)—25th CIFF, “Jesus, You Know” (2003), “Import/Export” (2007), PAR-
ADISE: LOVE (2012), “Paradise: Faith” (2012), “Paradise: Hope” (2013)
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