Tuvalu
by Veit Helmer
Germany 1999, 90 min
Tuvalu is the name of an island which Anton dreams of escaping to - a dream which seems unlikely to come true, given that he works as the maintenance man at the rundown pool owned by his father. The pool has been deserted for years, but Anton manages to convince his blind father that it is still popular. When Anton's entrepreneur brother Gregor hatches a scheme to have the pool razed and sold off as real estate, Anton must enlist the help of the few regulars who support the pool, beneath others, his longtime friend Eva.
Awards
FIPRESCI Prize - Ghent IFF 1999
Best New Director Promotional Award, Production Design Award - Hof IFF 1999
Best Editing – Magazine „Schnitt“
Audience Award - Molodist IFF 1999
Award of the City of Lünen, Editing Award - Lünen FF 1999
Audience Award - Max Ophüls Festival 2000
Grand Prize - Mediawave, Hungary 2000
Citizen's Choice Award - Puchon IFFF 2000
Visionary Production Award - Sidewalk FF 2000
Vision Award for Best Cinematography - Slamdance IFF 2000
Audience Jury Award, International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award - Fantasporto 2000
Grand Prize of European Fantasty Film in Silver - Espoo Ciné IFF 2000
Best Direction, Young Film - Bavarian Film Award 2000
Audience Award - Sweden FFF 2000
Prix de la Jeunesse - 16. Französische Filmtage, Tübingen 2000
Best Actors Award (Denis Lavant and Chulpan Hamatova), Special Jury Award - "Faces of Love" FF Moscow, 2000
Jury Award - Montréal Comedy Festival 'Just for Laughs' 2000
Best Actor (Denis Lavant), Best Cinematography (Emil Christov), Best Director (Veit Helmer), Youth Jury Award for Best Feature Film - Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema 2001
Young Georgian Artists Award - Tbilisi IFF 2001
Best First Work - Peñiscola Comedy FF 2002
Festivals
Shanghai IFF 2019
Cartagena IFF 2017
Fantasporto FF 2003
Peñiscola Comedy FF 2002
Málaga International Week of Fantastic Cinema 2001
Tbilisi IFF 2001
Montréal Comedy Festival 'Just for Laughs' 2000
Jakarta IFF 2000
"Faces of Love" FF Moscow, 2000
Sidewalk FF 2000
Espoo Ciné IFF 2000
Slamdance IFF 2000
Neuchâatel IFFF 2000
Sweden FFF 2000
European FF 2000
Reykjavik FF 2000
Puchon IFFF 2000
Lund Fantastisk FF 2000
Karlovy Vary IFF 2000
Französische Filmtage, Tübingen 2000
Filmquart FF 2000
Fantasporto 2000
Mediawave, Hungary 2000
Taipei Golden Horse FF 2000
Max Ophüls Festival 2000
Mar del Plata FF 1999
Lünen FF 1999
Molodist IFF 1999
Chicago IFF 1999
Hof IFF 1999
Ghent IFF 1999
Cast & Crew
Denis Lavant, Chulpan Hamatova
Production: Veit Helmer Filmproduktion
Veit Helmer
Starting to shoot films at age 14, Veit Helmer presented his feature debut TUVALU in 1999. Starring Denis Lavant, the film was invited to 62 festivals, including San Sebastian, London, Chicago, Berlin and Karlovy Vary. Followed by GATE TO HEAVEN (2003; with Miki Manojlovic and Udo Kier) and ABSURDISTAN (2008) that premiered at Sundance, Helmer’s films have participated and received awards at numerous festivals worldwide. As a member of the European Film Academy, he lectures at film schools in Prague, Beirut, Tbilisi, Djakarta and Almaty.
