UNDINE*

a documentary by Felix Rier

Barely a month after Undine’s* 24th birthday, she is dragged into a car at night, violently drugged and raped for several hours. To overcome this emotional and physical trauma, she finds her voice in dance to express her longing for a peaceful and harmonious existence.

In an interplay of melancholy and hope, the documentary UNDINE* (Working title) is an upsetting and, at the same time, uplifting confrontation with the consequences of sexual violence. In processing the violence experienced, Undine*, the eponymous protagonist, finds her voice as a choreographer and dance teacher, raising hope for a new present. Together with her boyfriend Thiago and Mandinga, a black Labrador, they share a two-room apartment on the 21st floor in east Berlin. In this protected setting, the film gives space for carefree devotion and playful mutuality. In self-recorded video diaries, she recounts the relapses and progress of her psychotherapy. These enrich the film with an intimacy which is fundamental to deal with the subject matter. Above all they allow Undine* to tell her story to a certain extent through her own words. Recurring dance improvisations with Undine* subtly subvert the documentarian form, creating touching moments without spoken words and, thereby, space for reflection.
The film UNDINE* follows the lead of its protagonist and looks ahead with a utopian vision. A leap beyond the shadow in search of answers. How do I want to live, what does it mean to love, and what do we take for granted every day? What does my mind feel, and how does my heart think?