Seidl Book
Stefan GrissemannOriginal Sin. The Transgressive Cinema of Ulrich Seidl.
250 pages, containing many previously unreleased color photographs – and a post scriptum by Werner Herzog.
To be released in German in September 2007
by Sonderzahl Verlag in Vienna.
Contact:
Sonderzahl Verlagsgesellschaft m. b. H.
Große Neugasse 35/15, 1040 Wien
Tel. 0043/1/586 80 70
Fax: 0043/1/586 80 70-4
sonderzahl-verlag@chello.at
From his debut film, a provocative piece on a very short man, „Einsvierzig“, shot in 1979, straight down to “Import Export”, his latest exercise in epic realism, Viennese director Ulrich Seidl (“Dog Days”) has managed to disturb, infuriate and touch audiences.
Seidl’s film work, derived from personal experiences like a severe catholic upbringing and doing casual labor as a night watchman and warehouse worker, continues to shock and challenge viewers by posing essential questions about the nature of cinema and its „morals“: about the gray areas between the fictional and the documentary; about the limits of voyeurism and the urge to fight sentimentality; about the very different modes of acting – from amateur posing to professional faking.
Stefan Grissemann’s book on Seidl, the first one on this director so far (aside from festival brochures), attempts to portray a highly controversial artist while discussing more general topics regarding ethics and pornography, mannerism and naturalism in post-documentary filmmaking. „Original Sin“ is conceived as a mid-career-study that will combine biographical elements with detailed analyses of the films themselves. In his own words Seidl will comment on all stages of his career, thoughout the book, looking back on years of public hostility and his present stature as one of international cinema’s most renowned directors.
Naturally, „Import Export“ will constitute the focus of the book, including rare set-reports, previously unpublished photo material and a lengthy critical survey of the film itself. But the scope of „Original Sin“ is wider: It spans almost three decades of filmmaking, from Seidl’s early polemics to the international success of „Dog Days“ in 2001; for this purpose friends, enemies and collaborators of Ulrich Seidl describe their relationship to the man and his work.
The author:
Stefan Grissemann is a film critic and currently head of the arts section of profil magazine in Vienna. He has published books on Michael Haneke and Elfriede Jelinek, on mysterious B-Picture-Ace Edgar G. Ulmer and the elusive Swiss-American underground artist Robert Frank.
