''Import/Export'' is an Austrian drama film by the director

Ulrich Seidl Ulrich Maria Seidl (born 24 November 1952 in Vienna) is an Austrian film director, writer and producer. Among other awards, his film ''Dog Days'' won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice in 2001. His 2012 film '' Paradise: Love'' competed for the Palme ...

from 2007. It was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

2007 Cannes Film Festival The 60th Cannes Film Festival ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. The President of the Jury was British director Stephen Frears. Twenty two films from twelve countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 26 May. '' ...

and won the Grand Prix - Golden Apricot reward at the

Yerevan International Film Festival The ''Golden Apricot'' Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF) ( hy, «Ոսկե Ծիրան» Երևանի միջազգային կինոփառատոն) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 w ...

. The film was shot in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

from 2005 until May 2007 on 16mm film. Simultaneously, the film follows a nurse from

searching for a better life in the West and an unemployed security guard from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

heading East for the same reason.

Plot

Olga is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

woman from

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...

, who lives with her mother and has a child. Her job as a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

does not pay well enough for her to support herself and her baby, and she gets a second job doing

internet pornography Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 19 ...

. She eventually leaves her homeland and travels to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

where she finds a job as a housekeeper at a rich family's home, where she also lives. The woman of the family suspects her of stealing and sacks her. She is then employed as a cleaner at a geriatric hospital. She develops a relationship with an elderly man named Erich and he asks her to marry him. She accepts, as she knows this will gain her Austrian citizenship. However, Erich dies of a heart attack before they can marry. Pauli is a young man from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

who lives with his mother and stepfather. He owns a large dog named Caeser and trains in martial arts. He works as a

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

at a shopping complex, but is sacked after a gang of drunken

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

cuff him with his own handcuffs and strip him of his clothes. His girlfriend breaks up with him as she is afraid of his dog, and he owes money to a number of people including his stepfather, Michael. Michael then takes him along on a job in

setting up video gambling machines. On the way there, they stop at an impoverished

Roma Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

neighbourhood in

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of a ...

where Pauli tries to 'hire' a prostitute. He fails to agree on a price with the Roma

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

s, and they chase him back to his van. When they arrive in

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...

, Ukraine, they rent a hotel room and try to pick up girls at a bar. When Pauli goes back to his room to borrow money from Michael to pay his tab, he finds that Michael has a prostitute. Michael insists Pauli watches him humiliate the prostitute before he can leave. The next day, Pauli leaves Michael's company and searches for work at a local market, where he fails to find any. The last we see of him is when he is walking along a long country road,

hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

, either back to the West or further into Ukraine.

Cast

* Ekateryna Rak: Olga *

Paul Hofmann Paul Hofmann (20 November 1912 in Vienna – 30 December 2008) was an Austrian, later American, author, journalist, linguist, and political activist.Tagliabue, John (31 December 2008)"Paul Hofmann, Author and Foe of Nazis, Dies at 96".''The New ...

: Pauli * Michael Thomas: Michael, Pauli's stepfather * Natalja Baranova: Olga's friend (Ukraine) * Natalja Epuraneu: Olga's friend (Vienna) *

Maria Hofstätter Maria Hofstätter (born 30 March 1964) is an Austrian actress. She appeared in more than thirty films since 1993. Selected filmography References External links * 1964 births Living people Austrian film actresses {{Austria-ac ...

: Sister Maria * Georg Friedrich: Orderly Andi * Erich Finches: Erich Schlager *

Dirk Stermann Stermann & Grissemann are an Austrian German comedy duo comprising Dirk Stermann and Christoph Grissemann. Background Dirk Stermann Dirk Stermann (born 7 December 1965 in Duisburg) hails from Germany and is a German radio and television pres ...

: Assessment trainer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Import Export 2007 films Austrian independent films Films set in Austria Films set in Ukraine Films set in Slovakia Films directed by Ulrich Seidl 2000s German-language films 2000s Russian-language films Films shot in Slovakia Slovak-language films Films shot in the Czech Republic Erotic drama films