Kopfüber

Upsidedown

Ten-year-old Sascha gives his mother a very hard time. He lives with her and two older siblings in an estate on the outskirts of town. The endless complaints about Sascha’s behaviour mean that things are often tense at home. Sascha is in the habit of stealing. He also lies, is short-tempered and simply refuses to abide by any agreements. This is not to say the boy doesn’t have his good points: he’s a whizz at repairing bicycles. Moreover, he and his friend Elli love cruising the district in search of different sounds they can mix into musical-acoustic pieces.

When he looks set to fail school altogether his mother seeks help. A social worker decides Sascha needs medical assistance and doctors prescribe him pills for ADHD. The medication works wonders: things are soon fine again at school and the police no longer darken their door. Sascha is suddenly a model of calm obedience – so much so that even his long-suffering Mum becomes somewhat suspicious.

Something is missing. Elli manages to put her finger on what it is: she’s noticed that her friend is no longer able to laugh.

Source: 63. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)