Dora is 18 and bursting with curiosity. Her mother Kristin has recently taken Dora off her sedating medication. The learning disabled young woman throws herself into all that life has to offer – this includes an infatuation with a man. To Kristin's horror the two have a spontaneous sexual encounter that soon develops into a liaison: the morally dubious man is clearly drawn to Dora's uninhibited sexuality. While Kristin tries in vain for another child, Dora finds herself pregnant …

Direction: Stina Werenfels

Script: Boris Treyer, Stina Werenfels

Production: Samir, Nicole Gerhards, Samir

Cinematography: Lukas Strebel

Editing: Jann Anderegg

Production Design: Beatrice Schultz

Animation: Daniel Brenner

Costume Design: Gitti Fuchs

Sound: Peter Bräker

Original Score: Peter Scherer

Cast: Victoria Schulz, Jenny Schily, Urs Jucker, Lars Eidinger

Original Title: DORA ODER DIE SEXUELLEN NEUROSEN UNSERER ELTERN

Original Language: German

Subtitles: English, French

Film Production Countries: Switzerland, Germany

Website: www.dora-derfilm.ch

Statement of the Director/s
When in 2003 I saw Lukas Bärfuss' premiere of "The Sexual Neuroses of our Parents" I left the theatre struck with a sense of ambivalence. One question kept going round and round in my head: What is morally right and what is wrong? I've been mulling over these questions ever since and eventually they led to this film.
THE STORY
A mother who can no longer bare the pharmaceutical sedation of her 18-year-old daughter courageously stops her medication. Now, we witness the sexual awakening of Dora, a learning disabled young women, and follow how this casts her parents and surroundings into flux. Whilst teenagers usually withdraw from their parents, Dora goes the other way: She confronts them and thus us candidly with her sexuality.
FREEDOM AND SEXUAL AUTONOMY
Looking at the family, I was intrigued by how mother Kristin – out of love – encourages her learning disabled daughter's autonomy. She wishes for her daughter to participate in life with self-determination, thus equal. But the fact that she embraces her autonomy with her whole body and a more than dubious lover comes unexpected to her parents. Without knowing, Dora is demanding her fundamental rights: the right to personal freedom and the right to marriage and family. Thus, she sends a whole family system into a tailspin. Initially Dora's awakening harmonises with her parents' ideals – she is active, full of curiosity and unconventional – but she soon grows unpredictable and becomes a danger to herself. As her sexuality manifests itself, so do the dangers surrounding Dora and her parents' concerns grow: now, each of Dora's actions cause a parental response of judgment, protection or control. Whilst her parents feel obliged to intervene, the authorities encourage Dora's growing independence.
(Incidentally, in 2013, a new Swiss legislation came into effect: patronization and legal finger-wagging have made way for the right to determine your own future. In effect authorities are now legally obliged to offer tailor-made solutions for each person with disabilities. This development can be observed in many other European countries and their legislations.)
MOTHER-DAUGHTER CONFLICT
The story focuses on the shifting relationship between mother and daughter as the mother comes to terms with letting go of her own childbearing years and her little girl at the same time.

Biography of the Director/s
Born in Basel in 1964, Stina Werenfels spent her early childhood in the USA, Greece and Spain. Following her degree in Pharmacology, she went on to study film at the New York University (Tisch School of the Arts) in 1991 where she attended master classes by Spike Lee, Arthur Penn and Marketa Kimbrell. There she completed her studies with the prize-winning documentary short FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOWER EAST SIDE (1994) describing the vanishing Jewish culture from the New York neighbourhood.
Back in Switzerland Werenfels shot PASTRY, PAIN & POLITICS (1998) for which she was awarded a.o. with the Swiss Film Prize for best short film. Her first feature, GOING PRIVATE (2006), premiered at the Berlinale Panorama and went on to win several awards.
Besides writing and directing, Stina Werenfels also teaches 'acting for film' at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Filmography:
1994 FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOWER EAST SIDE, short
1998 PASTRY, PAIN & POLITICS, short
1999 ID SWISS: MAKING OF A JEW, short
2006 GOING PRIVATE

Awards Won
Brussels FF: Cineruopa Award, Cinelab Award for Best Image

World Sales:
Wide
Loïc Magneron
9 rue Bleue
Paris, 75009, Switzerland
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +33 6 604 396 86
Website: http://www.widemanagement.com/

Press:
Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion AG
Franziska Sonder
Molkenstrasse 21
Zürich, 8004, Switzerland
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +41 44 456 30 20
Website: http://www.dvfilm.ch/