Director’s statement:
Reality does not have to be gray and cruel. Instead, it can very well be colorful and cruel. Tragedies often hide behind smiling faces and colorful curtains. You might overlook them, or see them only too late. This is what I wanted this film to be: Sweetest candy with a bitter core. An acidic pill, tasting even stronger in all the sugar it comes with. That is Betti’s fate, and bitter is also the image painted of her mother, who is anything but a role model. Romy is irresponsible and hardly ever shows up at home.
Drawing no black and white picture, ‘Topfpalmen’ asks for the true nature of love. Is it a feeling? Does it mean taking responsibility? And does it imply sacrifice?
A film by Rosa Friedrich with Maresi Riegner Henny Reents and Lars Rudolph presented by Film Academy Vienna.
Genre: Tragicomedy
Length: 20 min
Nominated for the FIRST STEPS Award.
Screening: On the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2020 and in 2021 at various film festivals.
Director: Rosa Friedrich
Producer: Dominic Spitaler
Director of Photography: Albert Car
Production Design: Jan Klammer, Valentin Hämmerle
Costume Design: Carola Pizzini
Make-Up and Hair: Tom Mayr
Editor: Svenja Plaas
Sound Design: Kai Shimada
Screenplay: Rosa Friedrich (only)
Contact:
Ostblok Gesbr, Dominic Spitaler
contact@ostblok.org, www.ostblok.org
More about Topfpalmen – www.topfpalmen.com
Director’s Biography: Born in East-Berlin shortly before the fall of the Berlin wall, Rosa studies directing at the Film Academy Vienna by Michael Haneke, focusing on a slightly more playful and exotic approach to film language and film making. As independent filmmaker she has already shot two feature films: ‘Buschow’(2014) and ‘Wander’ (2021). Furthermore she studied philosophy, psychology and film studies and lead various dance and theater groups – a fruitful complement for her work as director and screenwriter.