Harry Enfield & Sue Johnston star in absurdist film Welcome To Borovia
- Harry Enfield plays the disgruntled president of a small, dysfunctional Eastern European country in Welcome To Borovia, a new film starring Sue Johnston as a tea lady who gets caught up in a national crisis
- Martin Trenaman, Kayode Ewumi and Kenneth Collard also appear in the low-budget British feature, Enfield's first big screen outing in a decade
- Writer-producer-director John McKenzie likens the film to Blackadder but set in a timeless age where "it's a little bit surreal because they have weird and wonderful devices that hark back to the past but exist in the present"
Harry Enfield plays the president of a tinpot Eastern European country in an absurdist new comedy film, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Welcome To Borovia, which also stars Sue Johnston and Bravo Two Charlies' Martin Trenaman, is set in the crumbling Ministry of a mythical former Soviet state where nothing works as it should and disgruntled President Stepanov blames the infighting ministers of his Workers Party.
The small, formerly communist nation has been a dysfunctional democracy for 10 years. Facing being booted out of office by a restless electorate, Stepanov tries to marshal his bickering cabinet to come up with some ideas to ingratiate them to the voters.
Everything starts going wrong though, when they invite an envoy from wealthy, neighbouring Uzgoristan and foment a scheme to reap headline-grabbing economic benefits.
The Royle Family's Johnston plays Matrashka, a tea lady who has dedicated herself to the Ministry for 50 years, carrying out each and every task without question or complaint, even when it appears physically beyond her.
Pottering in the background when events reach a crisis point, she is drawn into the situation and becomes a key part of both the problem and the solution.
Trenaman is Popov, the nervous, subservient, minister of supplies, eager to show off the new technology which he hopes will catapult Borovia into modernity and earn him the president's good graces, but constantly undermined by production incompetency and a lack of basic materials.
Welcome To Borovia is Enfield's first film since 2015, when he reprised his television role of Martin, the father of Jack Whitehall's character Alfie in the Bad Education movie spin-off, appeared in the rom-com Scottish Mussel with Talulah Riley and Martin Compston and paired with Jessica Hynes to play Mr and Mrs Jackson in a BBC adaptation of Swallows And Amazons.
Written, directed and produced by John McKenzie for his Motion Magic production company, the low-budget feature co-stars Enterprice creator Kayode Ewumi, Kenneth Collard (Cuckoo, Zapped) and Star Stories' Alex Woodhall, alongside Toby Longworth (The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy), Paul Tylak (Roy), Rez Kempton (Amar Akbar & Tony), Anjella Mackintosh, Belle Mary Hithersay, Okan Şenozan and Andrew Thomas.
McKenzie, whose previous features include 2007's 12 In A Box, with Miranda Hart, Katy Wix and several of the Borovia cast, and 1996's Vol-au-vent starring Dennis Waterman and Julia McKenzie (no relation), likens the film to Blackadder rather than The Death Of Stalin, but set in a timeless age where "it's a little bit surreal because they have weird and wonderful devices that hark back to the past but exist in the present."
He adds: "It's a very eclectic mix of characters. But what makes it work is that each of them takes themselves seriously. It's not a nod and a wink comedy, 'look how funny I am'. The humour derives from what's happening around them, rather than them playing it for laughs.
"Sally Broome, our casting director, approached Harry and he liked the script. As did Sue. And we were very fortunate that they said yes because they're ideal in the main roles."
Shot over three weeks of night shoots in central London in February, Welcome To Borovia is currently in post-production, with plans to pitch the film to channels and distributors soon.