Losing Faith

A colorfully painted apartment complex: Flippa sits in her room surrounded by drawings. She smokes, writes in her diary, the Go-Go-Goths sing, "And some days I just can't take it." Her mother disappeared a long time ago, likewise her big sister – and any belief in unconditional love.
Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" in 3-D embellishes a postcard, a sign of life sent by sister Furia who took off years ago for a "mother and child resort" in Barronconi, Sardinia. Flippa hits the road. On the soundtrack, her thoughts alternate with the narrative voice of the Heavenly Mother as spoken by Susanne Bredehöft. In Sardinia, Furia will reveal to Flippa that paradise is not a place to long for freedom. This is exactly why you have to escape it. Inga Busch, another icon of the Berlin Volksbühne, agrees, "Man, there are chances you just have to try." Later Flippa is seen chain-sawing baby Jesus off a wooden Mother of God statue.

The witches of Barranconi party with surprised villagers, guys from a camping site, ­and the camera in pursuit of the most beautiful, spontaneous impulses unfolding under the Sardinian sun. An intoxicating atmosphere of exploration and discovery sets in. When Flippa explains her way of reading Jane Austen to a young man who wants to accompany her to Corsica, she wears a dental brace ­– just for fun. 
In the end, an organ-slurred cover-version is heard of Thee Oh Sees' break-up hymn "The Axis": I don't want to see you in the morning / I will never lay by your side / And by the time you hear these words / Your wicked face will be gone from my mind. Back in the days of Jimi Hendrix and "Axis: Bold as Love," love was capable of shifting the very axis of the world. Flippa's generation, by no means timid, battles with the "heterosexual knot – the very moment you love what love can't salvage". (Regina Schlagnitweit)

Translation: Eve Heller

Trailer
Orig. Title
Die ängstliche Verkehrsteilnehmerin
Year
2023
Countries
Austria, Germany
Duration
100 min
Director
Martha Mechow
Category
Experimental, Fiction
Orig. Language
German, Italian, Mandinka
Subtitles
English
Credits
Director
Martha Mechow
Cinematography
Nils Jakob Timm, Luis August Krawen
Music
Fee Aviv Marschall, Toni Mosebach
Montage
Felix Leitner
Sound Design
Sebastian Dieterle
Sound Mix
Sebastian Dieterle
Dramaturgy
Charlotte Brandhorst
Animation
Luis August Krawen
Drawing
Selma Juana Schulte-Frohlinde
Production
Hans Broich, SUPERZOOM Film
Actor/Actress
Selma Juana Schulte-Frohlinde, Ann Göbel, Joseph Löcker, Inga Busch, Max Grosse Majench, Susanne Bredehöft, Yasmin El Yassini, Leonie Jenning, Nastasya Tikhnovetskaya, Alexandra Gottschlich, Sibylle Paetow-Spinosa, Laura Carmen Storz, Jan Koslowski, Luis August Krawen, Martin Lindner, Casper Kubeng, Maila Stahl, Pál Tóth, Margarita Broich, Marco Fontana, Sebastiano Nicolai
Art Direction
Nina Mechow, Yasmin El Yassini
Costumes
Nina Mechow, Yasmin El Yassini
Set Design
Kastania Waldmüller, Sanna Leone
Supported by
cash for culture, Filmbüro Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Moin Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Freundeskreis H.F.B.K
Childcare
Paolina Wandruszka
Available Formats
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
5.1 surround
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264) (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
stereo 5.1
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Festivals (Selection)
2023
Marseille - FIDMarseille International Film Festival
Mar del Plata - Int. Film Festival
Lissabon - DocLisboa
Viennale - Vienna Int. Film Festival (Erste Bank Film Award)
Madrid - She Makes Noise Festval
Wroclaw - New Horizons Festival
2024
Curitiba - Olhar de Cinema - International Film Festival
Mexico - FICUNAM Film Festival
Murcia - IBAFF Ibn Arabi Festival Internacional de Cine de Murcia
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films (Großer DIAGONALE PREIS Spielfilm)
Gilching - Fünf Seen Film Festival