Losses to Be Expected

Although the Iron Curtain fell, the Czech-Austrian boarder still represents an imaginary line between capitalist prosperity on one side, and poor relics of real socialism on the other. Widower Sepp cannot take care of himself, so he decides to find a new wife/maid. He travels across the boarder to a Czech village where widow Paula lives, and the universal story of loneliness and unfulfilled desire unfolds between the two elderly people. Paradoxically, Karel Gott and his ethereal voice in both Czech and German represent a bridge between the two worlds. Director Ulrich Seidl combines the methods of documentary and feature film, using non-actors, but moving them within a set story. (Febiofest)