Guide Note

Absurdistan is a romantic comedy based on a 2001 Turkish newspaper article in which women went on strike, refusing to have sex until the men of the village fixed the water pipes. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival

Fast Facts

1. Premiere: Sundance 2008, January 20, 2008 6:00pm, Egyptian Theatre, Park City, Utah
2. Starring: Kristyna Malérová, Max Mauff
3. Directed by: Veit Helmer
4. Total Running Time: 88 mins
5. Filming Location: Azerbaijan

In a water-starved village, two childhood sweethearts, Aya and Temelko, await the date (foretold by Aya’s grandmother) that a perfect celestial alignment will bless their first night of love. An intrepid inventor, Temelko plans to repair the aging water pipe, but the apathetic older men scoff at his designs. The women, fed up with the men’s inaction, take matters into their own hands and declare a strike. No water, no sex. The gender lines are drawn, reinforced with barbed wire, and our young lovers find themselves on opposite sides of a fast-escalating feud.