The Austrian director Ulrich Seidl, accused of violating the labor regulations with minors in the filming of 'Sparta', candidate for the Golden Shell

The Austrian director Ulrich Seidl has been accused of exploiting Romanian minors during the filming of his new film

, which premieres on September 9 at the Toronto International Film Festival and is up for the Golden Shell at the 70th Toronto International Film Festival. San Sebastian cinema.

According to an investigation by the weekly

, Seidl deliberately concealed from the minors, non-professional actors between the ages of 9 and 16 at the time of filming, and from their parents the fact that the film also deals with pedophilia.

Apparently, during the filming

without sufficient preparation or proper supervision, the publication indicates.

In addition, according to the weekly, the director violated the regulations and guidelines in force for working with minors in the cinema.

Seidl denies the accusations and assures that parents and minors were informed about the content of the film and told that the film is about an adult "who is attracted to children" and "assumes a kind of father role".

The drama about a man with pedophile tendencies

who teaches martial arts to minors was shot between 2018 and 2019 in northwestern Romania. Seidl is one of the best-known contemporary German-language filmmakers with films like

("Dog Days", 2001) ,

(2007) and

("Paradise: Love", 2012), which were presented at festivals such as Venice, Cannes and Berlin.

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