“Sparta”, the new feature film by Austrian star director Ulrich Seidl, is scheduled to celebrate its world premiere on September 9th at the Toronto Film Festival before being screened in competition at the San Sebastian Festival a week later. As the German weekly magazine “Spiegel” now reports, the young Romanian amateur actors and their families have made massive accusations: the families were not correctly informed about the film’s subject of pedophilia, and children on the set felt uncomfortable.
According to the report, the children were sometimes unable to distinguish between reality and fiction. The example given is of a child who has an alcoholic father himself and is yelled at by an alcoholic while filming. According to ORF, the man is said to have tried to give the child alcohol. According to the Mittags-ZIB in the ORF, children are said to have been confronted with their trauma.
“They cheated us because we are poor”
In the “Spiegel” report, both employees of Seidl and the families – all anonymous – are quoted. The subject was not explained in advance, and parents were denied access to the set. Children should have filmed unpleasant scenes with adult actors. In Romania, the prescribed conditions for shooting with children, such as the approval of paediatricians and psychologists, were not observed. A father said, according to “Spiegel”: “I think they cheated on us because we are poor.”
For the time being, Ulrich Seidl has not issued a statement to APA. According to ORF, Seidl is said to have rejected all allegations and announced legal action.
Video: Peter Schneeberger (ORF) speaks about the allegations against the Austrian director Ulrich Seidl.
Source: Nachrichten
