HAPPINESS SUCKS will open the 52nd Hof International Film Festival

The 52nd Hof International Film Festival will kick off on 23 October 2018 with the Walker + Worm production HAPPINESS SUCKS by Anca Miruna Lăzărescu. With great sensitivity, the director has succeeded in telling the story of two sisters who master their own fates. A film which will make you laugh and cry.

Stefan Gabriel is a lifeguard, a dedicated father and always makes an effort to think positively in life. While he’s trying to give something back to society and is active as a companion for the terminally ill, his two daughters, the 12-year-old Jessica and 15-year-old Sabrina, are having to deal with their own problems. Jessica is often mistaken for a boy and struggles with all of her little quirks. She would love to change places with her pretty sister Sabrina, who, despite her illness, seems to have a handle on life. The more Sabrina’s health worsens, the worse Jessica’s quirks become. They need a plan – and fast. In an old book, they come stumble upon a special ritual which they think will be their salvation. But they need to find a boy who is willing to sleep with Sabrina. They don’t have much time and Jessica does everything in her powers to set the life-saving plan in motion, no matter how crazy it seems.

With Martin Wuttke as the father and Ella Frey and Emilia Bernsdorf as his daughters, the film is wonderfully casted. Christian Friedel, Tina Ruland, Stefan Grossmann and Sophie Rois can be seen in further roles.

"Anca Miruna Lăzărescu plots a family story with all of its ups and downs as a hymn to life. HAPPINESS SUCKS is a wonderfully emotional film." Thorsten Schaumann, artistic director of the Hof International Film Festival

HAPPINESS SUCKS is the second feature film of the German-Romanian director and graduate of the University of Television and Film Munich Anca Miruna Lăzărescu after her highly-acclaimed first feature THAT TRIP WITH DAD (2016) and the award-winning short SILENT RIVER (2011). The film is a Walker + Worm production (producers: Tobias Walker and Philipp Worm) in co-production with ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel and was supported by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Nordmedia, the German Federal Film Fund and the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film. The screenplay was written by Silvia Wolken (VACUUM), with Christian Stangassinger behind the camera. Concorde Filmverleih will release the film in Germany in 2019.

Screenings:
103 | Tue. | 19:30 | Central
703 | Tue. | 20:15 | Scala
712 | Wed. | 14:30 | Scala
746 | Sat. | 22:45 | Scala