How can we succeed in distancing ourselves from our own past and leave behind old hurts, brokenness and self-doubt? Be it familial affiliations, experiences of bullying or the pressure of high expectations, what we have experienced has left its mark and made us who we are. But at the same time, we have to break free from this and reposition ourselves. The film becomes a strategy for this. Starting a conversation with the parents, processing one's own trauma in film form, accompanying the process of saying goodbye while always newly situating one's own identity. (Lili Hartwig)
Eva-Maria has two families: her two children and her theater family at the Staatstheater Kassel. After 40 years, she is now leaving the ensemble. Her son Felix gets her in front of his camera and talks to her about her career and experiences, about his childhood and memories, and about the role of theater in his mother's life and the compatibility of family with an unsteady career.… >>>
"My mother always said that everything she did for me was out of motherly love. But gradually I began to doubt that. After that, I made this video. So the video is a healing for my trauma."… >>>
A mix of personal former diary passages from a younger version of myself and a current reflection.… >>>
In adulthood, Leonard Volkmer retraces the steps of his student life. He recounts the path from his parents' home to school, which is marked by an ever-present fear of homophobic attacks by his classmates. The objective, high-format images of a sleepy-looking small town with spacious single-family homes and lots of greenery lose their supposed innocence against this backdrop. The cleanliness and normative order of the streets do not offer security but are part of an ever-present threat. Writing about the experience and photographing the places from today's perspective means empowerment and carries a power of resistance.… >>>
Maria spent her summer vacations with her sister in Russia with their grandmother. In the backyard they played with the neighborhood children. It was clear that they were not from the neighborhood, but they belonged to it. She felt a deep connection then, but what does that belonging mean today? In these political times? From the ever-increasing distance?… >>>
In the documentary film "ANITU ANITAM" German director Anja Schweda travels with her parents to Poland to their home village. Using situational observations, conversations, old VHS recordings and diary entries, she takes the viewer on a journey into her past. Why is the place where she was once so happy now so oppressive to her? What has changed? Where are you at home if you are rooted with your family in another country than you are living in today?… >>>
Her mother Gerit moves into a nursing home. A new beginning, she starts walking more again and gives orders to the family. The filmmaker and her own children visit her regularly, but aging is unstoppable and painful for the daughter to watch. Memories of the past mix with the anticipatory nostalgia of the coming loss.… >>>