Do You See Me?

Tiffany is in her early twenties, a cosmetics saleswoman, and somewhat corpulent. She blames her body, which doesn't conform to the current ideal of thinness, for the lack of success she has experienced up to now. She is torn between what her world suggests, namely that she isn't thin enough, and her natural, healthy self-esteem, which knows no boundaries. She knows what she's capable of and often dresses herself to be noticed, and sexy, even if others find this inappropriate or strange. Her mother is a frightening example for her: fat and unmarried, her life consists "only" of her daughter and her telephone work, which she does at home. "Ulla's Advice for Happiness", her business, is a service where she reads Tarot cards over the phone. Tiffany wants to do things differently, but she often doesn't know how. Tiffany and her mother abandon themselves to the pleasures of eating whenever things aren't working out. Tiffany ends up in Falk's bar while going out in the city. He is curious about her after she refuses to be thrown out into the cold. Falk, himself perfectly beautiful, likes people with their own style. She spends the night with him. This night is something new for Tiffany: they become intimate without touching each other. Tiffany falls in love. Afterwards, Falk behaves ambiguously. He responds to her advances but balks whenever it gets too physically intimate. Tiffany, undaunted, keeps on trying. Yet the notion that she is simply too fat to be attractive grows and grows. Finally her fears are realised when her boss fires her, despite her successful sales record, in order to hire a thinner girl in her place. Thrown completely off balance, Tiffany decides to have her belly removed with the scalpel; this most despised belly! Getting in the way of her whole life! Yet operations are expensive and the now jobless Tiffany cannot afford it. Eventually she steals from her own mother in order to put herself under the knife. The operation is serious and it takes a while for her to get back on her feet. Afterwards she finds herself getting a different treatment from her world, but it is one that she did not expect... One question fires up Tiffany's imagination: what would happen if she were standing in front of Falk with her new body? Would she finally win him over? She anticipates this moment with great excitement...

Credits

Cast:

Victoria Gabrysch

Sebastian Ströbel

Sabine Orléans

Sybille Schedwill

Natascha Romano

Script:

Gwendolyn Bellmann

Katinka Feistl

Camera:

Sophie Maintigneux

Editing:

Karin Nowarra

Producer:

Meike Kordes

Alexandra Kordes

Leonie von Watzdorf

Sound:

Jörg Kidrowski

Music:

Eike Hosenfels

Moritz Denis

Film info

Direction:

Katinka Feistl

Genre:

fictional

Country of production:

Germany

Production Company:

Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin

Kordes & Kordes Film GmbH

ZDF - Das kleine Fernsehspiel

ARTE

Production:

2005

Shooting format:

16mm

Screening format:

4:3

Frame rate:

24 fps

Aspect ratio:

4:3

Language:

German

Version:

OV

Runtime:

92