»COMBAT GIRL«

Marisa, in her early 20s and part of an extreme right-wing clique in a small town in the East of Germany, cuts through her world like a knife. She is aggressive and lashes out whenever anyone is stupid. She hates foreigners, politicians, the police and everyone else, who she blames for her boyfriend Sandro being in prison and everything around her going to the dogs: her life, the town,
the country, and the whole world. This summer everything will change. First the clique is joined by 15-year-old Svenja (Jella Haase), who really gets on Marisa’s nerves. Then she encounters two asylum seekers who are stranded here in the back of beyond. While Svenja slips deeper and deeper into right-wing circles, Marisa’s world view is called into question. Something inside her is beginning to change, but the way out will prove harder than she suspects. David Wnendt’s intense debut film is magnificently performed by Alina Levshin as the merciless “combat girl” in a powerful performance that reflects her inner conflict between hatred, helplessness and a search for something to cling to. This is a gut punch of a film.