Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in den Mund und lächelst

Princess is my gender
Don’t call me she or her
The pronoun I prefer
Is Her Majesty

(Tami T, “Princess”)

Anna is new in her class at the prestigious school in Vienna’s First District. She comes from Floridsdorf, while the other students come from different income brackets. Anna’s mum Isolde is deaf. And Anna’s Ralph Lauren sweater is fake. Real, however, is her new friend Mara, and also real is the shared insight they come to: there’s no room for shame in life.

Marie Luise Lehner’s film is about circumstances, origins, transformations, and young people who have no idea yet, and who nonetheless already know everything they’ll need for the future – a coming-of-age story, radically tender.

Anna (Siena Popović) is 12 years old. Her mother Isolde (Mariya Menner) has less money than the other parents at the elite grammar school Anna now attends. Isolde is deaf, works in a dry cleaner’s, and has a new boyfriend: Attila. Anna is not sure yet how much she wants to trust him. It’s also uncomfortable that Anna has to pretend she’s sick because they can’t afford the class skiing trip. So the teacher (Kathrin Resetarits) goes off with the kids playing spin the bottle – without Anna. Isolde becomes pregnant. Others in the class are also getting new siblings. Will Anna get one too? That’s only Isolde’s business. At school, the big questions are different: Is sex at 13 too early? Does Anna want to kiss Paul (Alessandro Scheibner)? Or be more like him? Do you already have hair on your pussy? Sex and love begin to theoretically play a role. And yet: cherry pit spitting. Playing cards. TikTok dances. Anna wants a smartphone at last. Instead, she gets a pull-out couch, because her mother has someone else in her bed.

This is the story of a loving emancipation: that of a mother and daughter, each entering a new stage of life. In her new friend Mara (Jessica Paar), Anna finds an accomplice in asking the right questions – aided by the wardrobe of Mara’s father (Daniel Sea, “The L Word”). The Prater fairground rides shimmer in neon against the smoky blue Vienna evening sky (cinematography: Simone Hart), and two girls discover the art form of “Scheißmirnix” (“don’t-give-a-shit”). This film shines!

Marie Luise Lehner worked with children who already knew each other and had fun doing it, cast people with and without disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. She knows that diversity is lived reality, and it’s also present in the brilliant soundtrack, curated by the director and screenwriter – herself with a punk band background – featuring tracks by Tami T, Gata Fiera, Pop:sch, Enesi M, Xing, Klitclique, and Bipolar Feminin (the choral version! A dream!).

Audience and industry are equally enthusiastic: the film has already won numerous awards before its official cinema release.

Berlinale 2025: Teddy Jury Award, CICAE Art Cinema Award
Diagonale 2025: Thomas Pluch Screenplay Prize, Jury Special Prize, Drehbuchverband Austria (2025)
Crossing Europe 2025: Best Young Talent Award