Carmen is 17 years old and lives in Glod, a small gypsy village where nothing happens, somewhere in the Romanian mountains. She works daily in the shop and pub of her father, and has a admirer from the village, Christi. But Carmen dreams of a future somewhere else, somewhere she can find her ideal husband and lead a fantastic and rich life. She watches Spanish soap operas on TV and tries to learn Spanish. At the same time she loves her family dearly. She realises she has to leave behind the people she cares about to make her dreams come true.
When a man called Borat and his film crew appear, the villagers cooperate on what they believe will be a documentary. Carmen's father and her grandfather appear in the film, but as nobody speaks English, they have no clue what the film really is about. As soon as the villagers find out the film BORAT makes a fool of them, pretending Glod to be Kazakhstan, they are outraged. Borat calls them 'whores', 'thieves' and 'abortionists'. They feel abused and discriminated.
When an American and a German lawyer arrive and persuade Carmen's father, her grandfather and the mayor to sue Twentieth Century Fox for 30 million U.S.$., the atmosphere in the village changes tremendously. People start realising they might be rich soon and fantasize about what they want to do with all that money. Carmen's father wants to build a new bridge and a new church. The mayor wants to rename the village 'Boratville'. But at the same time aggression and greed reign supreme. The villagers distrust the lawyers and accuse Carmen's father of hypocrisy: is he sure he doesn't want the money for himself when he wins the case?
Carmen suddenly sees a promising future for herself: she will get rich and doesn't have to leave her family and friends. The village itself will become a lovely place to live. Marrying Christi is not that bad an option after all. The question remains: will the village win the case? How will this affect the life in Glod? And will Borat himself come to apologize?
FILMOPGRAPHY MERCEDES STALENHOEF - DIRECTOR
2008: CARMEN MEETS BORAT writer and director, 59 min / 85 min.
A documentary about how the life of a Romanian gypsy girl and her fellow-villagers changed dramatically after the arrival of the filmmakers of the film BORAT.
Pieter van Huystee Film/IKON Television
2005: I NEVER WANT TO BE FAMOUS writer and director, 75 min.
A documentary about cello player Tobias Prenen, who, after a cardiac arrest, has become mentally and physically handicapped.
Selfmade Films/Humanistische Omroep
Winner Golden Calf as Special Jury Award at the Netherlands Film Festival 2006; selected for the Joris Ivens Competition 2005 (IDFA), nominated for Prix Italia and Prix Europa.
2004: GODOFREDO IS ALIVE writer and director, sound engineer, 58 min.
A documentary about Ulises Garcia and golddigging in Peru.
Stichting Job/Evangelische Omroep
2002: I JUST TAKE MY TOYS WITH ME writer and director, sound engineer, 53 min.
Stichting Job/Humanistische Omroep
Nominated 'Best Documentary Dutch Academy Awards 2003
2000: BROODNODIG writer and director, sound engineer, 25 min.
Stichting Job/IKON
2000: THE HOUSE OF MY DREAMS writer and director, sound engineer, 30 min.
1999: KOFFIE VERKEERD writer and dierctor, sound engineer, 30 min.
Stichting Job
1998: SCHEURRAK SO 1 writer and director, sound engineer, 30 min.
Stichting Job
1996: CLEAN CLOTHES director, sound engineer and producer, 40 min.
Broadcast by Lichtpunt and BRT 2 (Belgium) and TROS/EO Television
PROJECT SUMMARY
Production company
Pieter van Huystee Film
Noordermarkt 37-39, 1015 NA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 421 0606
Fax: +31 20 638 6255
Language
Rumanian/ English with English subtitles
Genre
Documentary
Running time
85 minutes
Land of origine
The Netherlands
Director
Mercedes Stalenhoef
Director of Photography
Erik van Empel
Sound
Mark Wessner
Editor
Gys Zevenbergen
Producer
Pieter van Huystee
Line producer
Sylvia Baan
Annemiek van der Hell
Commissioning Editor
Margje de Koning (IKON)
Greg Sanderson (BBC)
Iika Vehkalahti (YLE)
Mark Atkin (SBS TV)
Florin Iepan (Sub Cult Ura)
World premiere
November 23rd 2008
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam
Dutch Theatrical release
December 4th 2008
World sales
Pieter van Huystee Film
Pieter van Huystee cell: +31 6 1747 9860
Festival requests
Curien Kroon / Pieter van Huystee Film
Phone: +31 20 421 0606
Publicity
Curien Kroon / Pieter van Huystee Film
Phone: +31 20 421 0606
