Pingpong

One summer′s day 16-year-old Paul suddenly turns up uninvited at the
door of his relatives. The last family reunion a few months before was a sad
occasion: Paul′s father had committed suicide, and now Paul seeks refuge in
the seemingly intact world of this middle-class family, which he enjoyed
visiting as a child. At first his Aunt Anna is less than enthusiastic about his
visit, since she is throwing her entire ambition into training her likewise 16-
year-old son Robert, a highly talented pianist, for the entrance examination
at a music school. When Anna′s husband Stefan unexpectedly has to leave
on a business trip, Paul makes himself useful by repairing the weatherworn
swimming pool. Her initial reserve soon turns into affection, and Paul also
feels attracted to her. The nearer the date of Robert′s audition approaches,
the greater the tension between mother and son grows. Anna pulls Paul
over to her side of this conflict and soon has him at her mercy, exploiting
his emotional weakness with no thought to the consequences. When the
situation gets out of control, Paul is driven to an act of desperation.

With this graduation film at the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam, Matthias Luthardt and his young team have produced a highly professional film that was invited to the Cannes "Semaine de la Critique", where it won the screenplay prize of the French association of authors and composers (SACD) as well as the young critics award.

Source: 57. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)