Absurdistan

In a bizarre little village, the dripping of water is more important than the gushing of love...

Welcome to the mystical village of Absurdistan, a distant and timeless land where tradition, family, and duty are inextricably and sometimes comically bound. It is a desolate yet beautiful corner of the world where children run free and grow up under the watchful eyes of their doting omniscient elders. Young Temelko (Maximilian Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malérová), born seconds apart, were predestined to share their childhoods, their hearts, and once the stars align perfectly, their first night of passion. Calamity ensues when a village-wide irrigation system failure forces the town's women to mobilize. The entire female population of Absurdistan stages a strike - no sex until the water supply is restored. Of course this presents an unforeseen diversion in Temelko's prophesized quest to fulfill his libidinal mission. Determined to reunite the sexes and keep his appointment with destiny, Temelko sets out to single-handedly repair the aqueduct. Inspired by a real-life event in a small Turkish village, Helmer creates a truly whimsical world where the laws of gravity have been bent. This boy-loves-girl, girl-loves-boy story is a buoyant romantic adventure that leaps from the screen. His fanciful characters possess an uncontainable physicality that propels the narrative from the first frame to the last. Helmer's masterful melding of comedy, parable, and coming-of-age story renders a unique vision that is at once satirical and stylistic. As the young leads, Mauff and Malérová's chemistry is palpable, both delivering dynamic performances reminiscent of Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. Internationally renowned composer Shigeru Umebayashi (In the Mood for Love, 2046) scores a compelling soundtrack that takes on the role of an unseen yet unmistakable character in the film.Berlin based director-writer-producer Veit Helmer's screen credits include: director of the feature film TUVALU, which screened at more than 60 international film festivals (San Sebastian, Berlin, London) and won 32 awards (Audience Award/Kiev International Film Festival, Best Film/Hof German Film Festival, Kodak Vision Award/Slamdance); director the highly acclaimed 1995 short film SURPRISE!, which also screened at the Sundance Film Festival and won 26 international film festival awards (Cannes/Rail D'Or-Audience Award, Berlin/Panorama Award); co-writer of Wim Wenders' A TRICK OF LIGHT; director of the feature film GATE TO HEAVEN, director of BEHIND THE COUCH, a documentary about the casting of Half-Life (2008 Sundance Film Festival).