»Ms Pethke gives us an extremely intimate but respectful portrait of her sister. An unusual coming-of-age story with sophisticated cinematography and a sensitive documentary film style.«
– German Film & Media Classification Board (FBW)

Louisa has always tried to be like everyone else. She even taught herself lip-reading in order to keep up with others and adjust to the world of people who can hear. However, communication has meant a lot of effort and, more often than not, disappointment. Now she is 23 and has to face the fact that something has to change: she simply cannot hear. Although not exactly news to her, she decides to accept the consequences. She begins to learn signing language, rejects the idea of a hearing implant and takes an important step in the direction of independence by going to live on her own. Her life changes in many an aspect – and it’s a painful process – but Louisa fights for self-determination. For example, she is not going to let her love of music be taken from her. She likes hip-hop and writes lyrics with some friends. And just why shouldn’t she play the clarinet?
A film about a young woman with hearing loss – yet not one that goes quietly. Louisa articulates, looks for new ways of communication and demands that it society change and not just her.
Louisa won the Golden Dove at the Leipzig DOK Festival and the German Short Film Award. In addition, the film was classified as »highly worthwhile« by the German Film & Media Classification Board (FBW).

After the screening, director Katharina Pethke will be on hand to talk about her work.

Awards for ›Louisa‹
Goldene Taube, DOK Leipzig 2011 | Goldene Lola, Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2011