Cinema Releases - Macondo
Eleven-year-old Ramasan has come to Austria from Chechnya with his mother and two younger sisters. They live in the Viennese neighbourhood of Macondo, where numerous refugees and asylum seekers await a better life, under the close control of Austrian authorities. His father was killed in the conflict with the Russians, or at least that’s what they believe happened to him. Ramasan tries his best to take his father’s place, by looking after his sisters or tucking his mother’s stray hair back underneath her headscarf for instance. When he accidentally meets Isa, a friend of Ramasan’s father from the old days, Ramasan's life is thrown into disarray as he is both attracted to this new father figure and worried that he will get too close to his mother.
In her first feature-length drama, Sudabeh Mortezai portrays a Muslim boy caught in the divide between his ideals and the reality that surrounds him. A carefully observed, nuanced film that goes beyond the mere observation of refugees’ life to raise more profound issues regarding the notions of tradition, belonging, and guilt.
Offical Selection, Competition, Berlin Film Festival 2014
Macondo is her first feauture-length fiction film.
2014, 98 min
IM BAZAR DER GESCHLECHTER (Documentary)
2009, 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 (Documentary)
2006, 86 min
Competition First Appearance Award, IDFA, Amsterdam 2006
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Ramasan Minkailov (Ramasan) Aslan Elbiev (Isa) Kheda Gazieva (Aminat) Rosa Minkailova (Rosa) Iman Nasuhanowa (Iman) Askhab Umaev (Askhab) Hamsat Nasuhanow (Deni) Champascha Sadulajev (Champascha)
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Written and directed by Sudabeh Mortezai Cinematographer Klemens Hufnagl Editor Oliver Neumann Sound Design Atanas Tcholakov, David Almeida-Ribero Sound Atanas Tscholakov Production Design Julia Libiseller Costumes Carola Pizzini Casting Eva Roth Production Manager Sabine Moser Producers Oliver Neumann, Sabine Moser
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Austria 2014, 98 min
German and Chechen with English subtitles
‘A Rich, Affecting Drama Centered On An Outstanding Child Performance...superb performances, authentic context and impressive filmmaking’
Jessica Kiang, Indiewire
‘Ramasan Minkailov is a natural born actor who has no fear or shame in front of the camera…or else is the exact copy of the character he plays. Either way, the result is utterly convincing, because his unforced facial expression, grave, mischievous or remorseful, and his natural body language are more eloquent than anything written.’
Dan Fainaru, Screen International
'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
Download photo set zipfile
Visit Macondo's official website
Clip: Who killed my father?
Clip: What would I do without you?