The last evening before her gender reassignment surgery: Caroline thinks she is finally on the side of happiness. As the hospital settles down for the night, she says goodbye to her old self and feels happy for the first time in her life. Weeks later, her father is dying. Caroline looks down as if paralyzed from a balcony parapet of her high-rise building in Leipzig and talks about the first abuse on Christmas Eve in her childhood. It soon becomes clear to her that without coming to terms with her trauma, she has no chance of building a future and arriving in the new gender. With the help of a therapist, Caroline goes back into her past - with an uncertain outcome.
And gently flows the Rhine
Oliver Matthes, Volker Klotzsch
Born in 1982 in Leipzig. Studied Television Journalism in Leipzig. Active as director and producer.
2012 UND RUHIG FLIESST DER RHEIN, Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021
Born in 1984 in Leipzig. Trained in Media Design for Imaging and Sound. Active as director, producer, and media educator.
2012 UND RUHIG FLIESST DER RHEIN, Dokumentarfilm HOF 2021
"Sexual violence affects us all. Every day, 46 children are sexually abused, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office. And that's just the surface. The number of cases is rising and yet people remain silent. Sometimes you read a report in the newspaper and are affected in the short term. But what this does to the children and how it destroys their lives disappears behind these headlines. Caroline and we want to give these children a voice with this film. Every voice that breaks the taboo of sexual violence can make people look and act."