Christian and Angela were a couple for a month and a day. At least that‘s what self-proclaimed romantic Christian would say that if you ask him. Carlotte Kittel, the director of ER SIE ICH and the daughter of Christian and Angela, asked that. She has brought her long-separated parents together again in her film – at least visually. After interviewing both of them, she showed it to the other party and let them comment on what they saw. A dialogue transpires out of it that wouldn‘t be possible otherwise. As in David Spaeth‘s BETRAYEL, you watch people for 90 minutes who sit on their living room couch and talk while being sometimes amused and sometimes upset. This isn‘t visually cinematic, of course, but it does lead to more self-reflection because of it. There‘s a lot narrate and comment on since Christian and Angela remember fundamental events very differently. Did they meet at the optician‘s or at a theater group? Did it come to an end during a single visit to a fatal cabin or was it when Christian demanded to take a paternity test 5 years later? Who should the viewers and Carlotta, who is always present behind the camera, believe when both parents are absolutely serious and seem honest? There‘s always a question of what makes a documentary about one‘s own family worth watching for the audience. In the case of ER SIE ICH, it is the familiarity that is entertaining and moving. We have all been (unhappily) in love and hav something we want to say to our ex, our memories are often very different, and one‘s relationship to one‘s parents is always complex. The family therapy in ER SIE ICH invites you to look at your own memories, to search for the truth that can be found somewhere between the optician and the cabin.

Katharina Franck

Translation: Elinor Lewy