“Fate has placed her on the wrong side of life”, says a friend. “She is rich but wants to be poor, so that she can finally belong to those who are poor and take a stand against those who are rich.”
She herself considers superficiality to be her biggest problem. Martha, a filmmaker, lives in Hamburg with her young son. She moves in with a group of Portuguese friends “so as to be closer to society’s throb”. Teresa helps foreigners cope with administrative problems. In the meantime, Martha attempts a love affair with Alfred who has little control over things. In his late thirties, he is still studying architecture and taking his time with Martha too. Their relationship mirrors the realities of life in Germany, captured spontaneously and parodied with sarcastic wit and often reaching absurd depths: An administrative blunder within the bureaucratic jungle of the immigration authorities causes a reversal of fates. And just to combine “high tech” with “high spirits”, a private broadcaster competes against the spoilsports of cultural criticism. As a central theme, the film is interspersed with interview questions for Martha as a female filmmaker: Women’s solidarity? Female aestheticism? Cinematic theories?
Nothing could rob either Martha or Pia Frankenberg of sleep. And as neither of them loves a surprise conclusion, Martha and Alfred finally unite in an open happy ending. He is on a quest for security, while she is on a quest for problems. –piafrankenberg.de
Pia Frankenberg is a filmmaker and author. She has produced numerous short films and films since 1979 and has written four books. Her latest book “Nora” was published in 2006. She currently works on a new book with narratives. Pia Frankenberg lives in New York City.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Cologne, Germany, in 1957. Early childhood spent in Rhöndorf by the Rhine.
1964 – 67 Primary School in Rhöndorf.
1967 – 71 Catholic Girls High School Liebfraueninsel Nonnenwerth Bad Honnef, Rhein.
1971 – 76 Continued high school education at Schule Schloß Salem, Salem/Bodensee.
1976 Abitur – graduation.
Relocation to Hamburg, trained as an actress at the Hochschule für Musik and Darstellende Kunst in Hamburg for two semesters.
Member of various independent theatre groups.
Attended workshop at the Theatre of the Oppressed organized by the Brazilian Augusto Boal (within the context of the Theatre of Nations in Hamburg, 1979). read more
