SYNOPSIS
Carmen is 16 and lives on the outskirts of Berlin with her mother Ruth and brother Tito. Her father, a Puerto Rican soldier, is long gone, leaving only records and postcards behind. Between grey housing blocks and daily routines, Carmen dreams of becoming a dancer. In bold makeup and flowing robes, she performs her fantasies for the camera, imagining love and escape. Inspired by the sharp irony of American underground films, Elfi Mikesch is blending reality and imagination into a vivid counterworld. Desire briefly transforms the limits of her everyday life. Written with the characters Ruth Rossol, her son and, above all, her teenager daughter, the film celebrates the power of fantasy. Through her work with image and sound, E. Mikesch who took over all the writing, filming, directing as well as editing creates a parallel tropical world that opposes the harshness of West Berlin. Where reality and imagination intertwine to tell the story of "ordinary" lives.
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