“SPACE TOURS – Mission E. V. A.”
How to be successful with a no-budget film:
In 1959, American director Edward T. Wood Jr. shot the science-fiction film Plan 9 from Outer Space. Since then, the movie is considered to be the worst movie of all time and Ed Wood is said to be the worst director in the history of film. So Austrian filmmaker Andreas Auinger decided that it was time to change that!
IFQ: First of all, why did you want to make the worst movie of all time?
Andreas Auinger: To become number 1! When it comes to Best Film or Best Director, there is absolutely no consensus. On the other end of the spectrum, no argument: Plan 9 from Outer Space and Ed Wood since 1959. So a few years ago, I had an idea to make a film which should outclass this B-movie cult film. Particularly, it should be of bad quality and consist exclusively of film parodies, tributes and quotes from the last hundred years of film and television history. And I wanted to shoot it without any money!
IFQ: How is it possible to make a feature film without any money?
AA: I was lucky to find lots of people who liked my idea and worked together with me for free –in front and behind the camera. I was also able to cast the film characters optimally with actors who so believed in this project that all joined without being paid and even brought their own food to the set!
IFQ: What´s the story of SPACE TOURS – Mission E. V. A.?
AA: The travel group Tuilet Tourism plans a world cruise of absolute superlatives. So it sends the space ship Yuzna into space with a four-man crew and super computer E.V.A. on board to explore vacation destinations no tourist has ever seen before. Of course, this venture is a thorn on SPECTACLE TRAVELS’ side, their competition… But this is just the frame storyline. Basically, “Space Tours” is as I said an action-packed trip through the last 100 years of the history of film and television.
IFQ: You’ve also won international awards, right?
AA: That´s right! We won three awards at the New York International Film Festival: “Best Feature International,” “Best Comedy Feature” and the Special Jury´s Award “Feature Filmmakers to Watch” for me and my co-producer and actor Rainer Kantz. To win these three awards was really overwhelming!
IFQ: Did you expect all of this success from Space Tours?
AA: I never thought that you could create such a stir with such a limited budget. People either laugh so hard that they get bellyaches or they sit stiff because they’re scared to miss a gag. One way or the other, everybody goes to see it at least twice!
IFQ: What are your next projects?
AA: I don´t want to reveal too much, but the next film I´m working on is called Housemaster and will be the first movie in which two stars are seen together for the first time and whose visionary plot uses the internet as scenery.