SYNOPSIS
Stevie (Céci Chuh), a precocious 14-year-old girl must cope with the instabilities of her immoderate parents. When they decide to move to a small provincial town in Germany, Stevie attempts to slip into a normal life. Whilst her parents playfully escape their responsibilities, Stevie tries to make a good impression in town, spreading stories of grandeur and claiming to be the daughter of a diplomat. She makes progress. Yet the good weather doesn’t last and before long, she discovers that her parents have once more resorted to illegal means, as a way of supporting their leisurely lifestyle. As friends and hangers-on of her parents fill their new home, the chaos continually mounts. It is in this atmosphere of physical and emotional destruction, that Stevie must now take a decision.

The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam where it won the Tiger Award for the best debut.

ABOUT
Pia Marais was born in South Africa and grew up in Sweden and Spain. After studying photography and sculpture in London, Amsterdam and at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, she completed her directing studies at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB).

In 2007, after several short films, she directed her first feature, DIE UNERZOGENEN (The Disobedient), with Céci Chuh and Birol Ünel in the cast. Her second film, IM ALTER VON ELLEN (At the Age of Ellen), starring Jeanne Balibar, was presented in 2010 at the Locarno Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

For her third feature, LAYLA FOURIE, starring Rayna Campbell, she returns to her native South Africa. The film was selected in 2013 for Berlinale and received a special mention from the jury. In 2017, her TV film SO AUF ERDEN was selected for the Munich Film Festival.