Absurdistan

In a remote village the water pipe has been rotting for years and nobody repairs it. Eventually the women reach a decision: they will not sleep with the men until the pipes are fixed. The village splits in two and the stalemate begins. Aya and Temelko have been waiting for each other since childhood and are due to be together right in the middle of this strike. Temelko's only option is to bring the water back. Veit Helmer's film moves along with almost no dialogue; the telling is built from movement, sound and faces. Its source is very old, reaching back to the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata: women using the one form of power they hold in order to change something. The film does it in the register of a folk tale, without making a villain of anyone. The barren mountain landscapes it was shot in give the whole thing a real sense of place.