Completed - GERMAN - Drama, First film - 101 minutes
“Swimming” tells the story of Elisa and Anthea, two 15-year-old girls living in Berlin, whose friendship gives them support and orientation during a difficult time of their young lives. To maintain their relationship, they develop a game, which turns the girl from victims to offenders.
Year of production : 2018 Director(s) : Luzie LOOSE Cast : Stephanie AMARELL, Lisa VICARI Producer(s) : Christoph HOLTHOF (kurhaus production), Daniel REICH (kurhaus production), Philipp maurice RAUBE, Lennart LENZING
“Swimming” portrays the friendship between Elisa and Anthea, two very different characters whose friendship sustains and grounds them during a difficult time of their lives. After Elisa‘s parents separate, her life starts to fall apart. Her mother and her have to leave the family home and move to a small apartment in the middle of Berlin-Neukölln. She physically reacts to the stress by fainting on a few occasions. On one such occasion, her classmates use Elisa‘s vulnerability as an opportunity to make her a victim in class. This is when Anthea steps into her life. She is beautiful and bold and helps Elisa overcome her defenceless rigidity within a very short frame. The two develop a close friendship and invent a game involving them recording everything they do on their mobile phones. Soon they extend the game to turning the camera around and secretly filming their classmates, who have bullied Elisa earlier. Elisa takes advantage of her mother‘s absence at night due to work to go out and explore the Berlin club scene with Anthea and her older brother Pierre. She experiences a vibrant summer with her new friend. Anthea protects her, gives her self-confidence and stability. Their friendship fills a void in both of their lives - in Elisa’s case caused by her parents’ separation, in Anthea’s case caused by the lack of affection she experiences in her family. Anthea sets the pace from the beginning. In order to appear equally brave as her, Elisa repeatedly films her classmates in compromising situations and publishes them online. Soon the two girls need this game to maintain the bond between them. Their intimate friendship takes on a destructive dynamic, ultimately leading to threatening circumstances for anyone who gets in their way.
Country(ies) : GERMANY
Busan - BIFF/APM 2018 (Flash Forward)Hof International Filmfestival 2018 (Hofer Gold Award Best Director)Crossing Europe 2019 (Yaaas!)