Welcome to Karastan

Indie film director Emil Forester is down on his luck – washed-up and mentally unstable. An illustrious start - Academy Award for Best Short, Jenny, his agent wants him to do some adverts. Maria, his cleaner, wants him to buy more toilet duck. He needs a change. So when he receives an invitation to the Autonomous Republic of Karastan, he decides to go. Besides, the champagne is free. Little does he know that this could be the start of something big. Something epic. President Aleluyev asks him to direct a huge epic film telling the story of Karastan. Emil agrees. But then a series of events throw the film into uncertainty.

Director's Biography
BEN HOPKINS, born in Hong Kong in 1969 and raised in London, is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter. His 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep received the Award for Best European Documentary at the Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival and The Market: A Tale of Trade won several prestigious awards. // Films (selection): Simon Magus (1999), The Nine Lives of Thomas Katz (2000), 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep (2006, doc), Pazar: Bir Ticaret Masalı (The Market: A Tale of Trade, 2008; CE’09), Welcome to Karastan (2014), Hasret (Yearning, 2015, doc; CE ’16)
European Panorama Fiction 2016
Ben Hopkins
Great Britain / Germany / Georgia / Russia 2014
color
100 minutes
OV with German subtitles
Screenplay Ben Hopkins, Pawel Pawlikowski
Cinematography Jörg Gruber
Editing Alan Levy
Sound/Sounddesign Simon Bysshe, Nika Paniashvili, Christoph Ulbich, Ben Hopkins
Music Andreas Lucas
With Matthew Macfadyen, Myanna Buring, Richard van Weyden, Noah Taylor
Producer(s) Mike Downey, Sam Taylor (Film & Music Entertainment, GB), Daniel Zuta (Brandstorm Entertainment, DE), Vladimer Katcharava (20 Steps Production, GE), Artem Vasiliev (Metra Films, RU), ZDF (DE), Andreas Eicher, Frank Evers, Helge Neubronner (cine plus Filmp
Production
Film & Music Entertainment 14 Newburgh Street London W1F 7RT Great Britain office@fame.uk.com www.fame.uk.com
Trailer
Website
Weltpremiere / World Premiere
Montreal World Film Festival 2014

Premierenstatus / Premiere Status
Austrian Premiere