Veronika
Synopsis
Through writing, Veronika Raila finds her way into the world. As a child, she was certified by doctors to have an IQ of zero – deemed uneducable. Her spastic disability and autism prevent her from moving and communicating in conventional ways. Yet inside, an alert and vivid mind is at work.
Veronika studies Catholic theology and literature at the University of Augsburg, publishes poems and stories, and gives readings. She writes with the help of her mother: when her arm is supported, it sends impulses that a keyboard transforms into words – poetic lines that describe her innermost world.
Filmmaker Mark Michel visits Veronika at home and observes her daily life. Her symbolic and sensory narratives are accompanied by the dreamlike sand art of artist Anne Löper, who finds precisely the right images for Veronika's words. A dignified portrait of an extraordinary and strong young woman – and the beginning of a long creative collaboration.
"Sand is an obvious metaphor since I am not stable; it takes only a tiny impulse and my sense of being crumbles. Sometimes I feel just like that, as though I've fallen into a thousand bits."
— Veronika RailaWatch the Film
▶ Short film on Vimeo (7 min) · First broadcast MDR: 6 August 2011
Filmstills
Awards & Festivals
- Nomination – German Short Film Award 2011
- Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Short Film Prize 2012
- Golden Sparrow – Special Prize for Innovation, Children and Media Festival Gera-Erfurt 2012
- Bamberger Reiter – Best Documentary, Bamberger Kurzfilmtage 2013
- 1st Jury Prize – Kunstgriffrolle, Dithmarscher Kurzfilmfest 2012
- Documentary Award – Diessener KurzFilmFestival 2012
- Best Short Documentary – Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Pyrgos, Greece (unanimous)
- FBW Rating: "Particularly Valuable" (Besonders wertvoll)
- Honorable Mention – 43rd Annual Marin County International Short Film Festival, USA
- DOK Leipzig 2011
- Kurzsuechtig Leipzig 2011
- OneWorld Romania 2012
- European Film Festival Integration You and Me, Koszalin, Poland 2013
- 4th Belgrade International Film Festival for and by People with Disabilities 2013
- Entr'2 Marches International Short Film Festival, Cannes, France 2013
- EOP – International Film Festival, Namur, Belgium 2013
- Screened at over 60 festivals worldwide