Director Biography - Nicolas Neuhold

Nicolas Neuhold was born in Vienna, Austria and is an Austrian/Luxembourgish filmmaker. He obtained a Masters of Art degree from the University of Bournemouth (UK), and is a graduate of the European Film College in Ebeltoft, Denmark. His short films, documentaries and feature debut "Another One Opens" have had over 250 festival screenings worldwide and won several awards, including the "Bigas Luna Award" and the "Ulrich Schieg comedy award" for his short film Würstelstand, as well as a "Royal Television Society- Southern Centre" best documentary award and the Meridien Prize for the documentary "Cannes - Through the eyes of the Hunter".

Director Statement

As far back as 395 AD, when the Roman Empire was being divided up, the region of what, today, is Albania was a border region. Not just politically, but very much culturally: the area had three religions and even three alphabets: Greek, Arab and Latin. This made it an area full of stories; an area that was, and still is, torn apart as to its place in the world.

The story of FALEMINDERIT was related to me by an Albanian historian. It is a story that is told in different ways, sometimes with chocolate or candies and a grateful "Thank you" replied by its recipient, sometimes with coins being thrown into a school courtyard to get children to fight over them. The purpose of this was always to hear the real language spoken to decide the demarcation of the borders. For me the children symbolise the young country, while the chocolate is a symbol of enjoying life.

The Paris Conference of Ambassadors portrays the interests of the participating neighbouring countries and the Great powers. There was, however, no one single conference where such events would have taken place, but more than 300 (!) meetings. This process started in 1913, when the first border commissions were sent out. It was interrupted by World War I, while the final borders were not in place until 1926. The script therefore takes the liberty to portray the events in a selective and compressed way.

The Balkans are a region that, 100 years after this story took place, still hasn’t found its peace. The Belgrade - Pristine dialogue that is debating the territory of Kosovo has not yet found a solution and constitutes the last armed conflict in the exact region where this story took place.

However, even more worrying than the regional conflicts are the nationalistic tendencies of today’s politics to which this story holds up a mirror. Voices of populism which were only audible in hushed tones before, have now become loud and acceptable.

Nationalistic politicians speak unashamedly of humans as if they were animals, praising dictators while breaking with allies and reason itself.

I greatly enjoyed finding and writing this script, as it fulfils my greatest desire as a filmmaker, to tell layered stories that entertain without the use of violence. I believe that FALEMINDERIT could, in a subtle way, create an interest in history and show the importance of diplomacy and creative solutions in a world that urgently needs them.