Geboren In Absurdistan (2001)

Politically enforced racial prejudice is parodied in this dark comedy from Austria. Stefan (Karl Markovics) is a bureaucrat with the Austrian government who supervises immigration issues; Stefan's politics lean rather strongly to the right and he has little use for people from abroad. Stefan and his wife Marion (Julia Stemberger) are expecting a baby, and when Marion goes into labor, she arrives at the hospital's maternity ward at the same time as Emine (Meltem Cumbul) and her husband Emre (Ahmet Ugurlu), a couple of Turkish birth who are also about to have a child. Marion and Emine end up sharing a room, leading to an argument between Stefan and Emre. Emre's quarrel with Stefan turns out to be an omen of things to come; though he and his wife have been living in Austria for close to ten years, a mix-up with the immigration department forces the couple and their young child to return to Turkey. However, a nurse at the hospital informs Marion of a terrible mistake -- she was accidentally given Emine's baby, and vice versa, and so Stefan and Marion travel to Turkey, hoping to track down the recently deported couple and exchange their children. Geboren in Absurdistan was directed by Allahyari Houchang, who began his career in Iran before relocating to Vienna in the wake of the Islamic revolution. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi