EXCLUSIVELY AT THE IFI

As 2007’s ferocious Import/Export demonstrated, Austrian maverick Ulrich Seidl has no fear of making the viewer uncomfortable in the course of exposing a wider truth. This first entry in a completed trilogy (Faith and Hope will follow in July and August) offers an examination of sex-tourism in Kenya which isn’t shy about revealing flesh, but ultimately ponders the yearnings of the soul.

Teresa (incredibly brave Margarete Tiesel) is a 50-something-year-old Austrian single mum whose middle-age spread has left her feeling less than desirable, something no longer an issue at an East African beach resort where nubile young black men crowd the wealthy European visitors. Fantasies of romance, rooted in murky cultural history, soon give way to a series of deceptive transactions bringing out the worst in both sides as Seidel’s trademark blend of documentary grunge and authored image-making ventures into the heart of darkness. (Notes by Trevor Johnston.)

This film will be one of three films discussed in June’s The Critical Take, our FREE monthly film club, on Wednesday, June 26th at 18.40.