Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

July 2 - 10, 2010

Little Girl Blue
( Little Girl Blue )

Colour, 35 mm
Switzerland, Germany, 2003, 82 min
Section: Variety Critics´ Choice

Director: Anna Luif
Screenplay: Anna Luif, Micha Lewinsky
Dir. of Photography: Eeva Fleig
Music: Balz Bachmann
Designer: Georg Bringolf
Editor: Myriam Flury
Producer: Samir Koch, Karin Koch
Production: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion
Sales: Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion

Cast

Muriel Neukom, Andreas Eberle, Bernarda Reichmuth, Sabine Berg, Mark Kuhn, Michel Voita, Marina Guerrini

Synopsis

Crisply directed, and marbled with a deft humor that places it way outside the Swiss norm, Little Girl Blue is a delight. Sidestepping most coming-of-ager cliches, this wry comedy-drama centred on a new teen in town reps an impressive first feature by writer-director Anna Luif. Diminutive Muriel Neukom is cute as a lollipop as Sandra, 13, who´s just moved into a new part of town and pals up with a 14-year-old called Mike (Andreas Eberle), also a loner. From the opening sequence of Sandra miming a pop classic - her family nickname is "Elvis" - it´s clear the pic is going to be more than just a standard teen romancer. Luif´s precise direction creates a slightly off-centre world in which the low-key humor sits very nicely.

Derek Elley