Import Export

Shocking, yet humane portrait of the Viennese Pauli and the Ukrainian Olga, two authentic ‘have nots’. Ulrich Seidl’s second film reveals a dark vision of the western welfare state that is not without its funny moments. What to do, as a young man suddenly out of a job? How can a young woman, without any qualifications and with a child, improve her position in the world? These seemingly simple questions lie at the heart of Import Export, in which Olga from Ukraine seeks a better life in Vienna, while Viennese Pauli transports rejected gambling machines to Ukraine.

Seidl worked with two cameramen on Import Export: Wolfgang Thaler – who previously worked on Seidl’s documentary Jesus, du weißt – and Ed Lachman.…