Der Ball

This short film takes us to Horn, a small town in Austria where Ulrich Seidl grew up. For years it has been the tradition that students organise the graduation ball at the end of their school career. That is not only one of the most important social events in town, but also the high point of Shrove Tuesday. Ulrich Seidl: ‘Der Ball was the reason that I got kicked out of Film Academy. The teachers were not happy about the structure nor the editing and they thought the film could damage the reputation of the school.’
Seidl (1952, Austria) acquired worldwide fame with stylised, often controversial documentaries such as Good News (1990) and Loss Is to Be Expected (1992). Also his features shot in the same, recognisable style, Hundstage (2000) and Import/Export (2007) evoked fierce reactions.