Following a motorbike breakdown, Eva, a hotelier’s daughter, has a chance meeting with Magdalena, a sociologist who works as a dominatrix, “Lady Maria”, in a BDSM studio. Fascinated by Lady Maria’s bizarre world, Eva embarks on a search for her own identity and sexuality and so begins an odyssey through the hidden settings of lust: dominatrix studio, swinger club, striptease bar – meeting characters who are torn, such as Dominik, who wants to recreate the suffering of Jesus, or Mike, who imagines Eva is a tour guide through the world of lust and then falls in love with her, after all. This is a lyrical study of obsession and loneliness, secret lust and public morality.
24/7 The Passion of Life
Roland Reber
“In the film, sexuality is a metaphor of our search for identity. It’s a way to get to know yourself, to get a little closer to yourself through self-determination. For me, it wasn’t about making a film that says 'join BDSM and you will be free, go to a club and everything will be fine' – no. I was also concerned with the topic of loneliness, how we face life through isolation. It was being immersed in a world that is not our everyday world. And we sought dialogue with people from the respective scenes and tried to reproduce the atmosphere authentically. The film is fictional but it’s based on research, that is, on real fantasies, people and stories – from both the bourgeois milieu and the respective scenes. Sexuality is a universal subject that is often only addressed to increase ratings, unfortunately. Generally speaking, serious confrontation – even with what we find alienating – that just doesn’t happen.”
Roland Reber
“It was important for us to reproduce the atmosphere of the BDSM sessions authentically. That’s why, in order to prepare for the role of the dominatrix, I spent a few days assisting in a BDSM studio as a guest dominatrix. But no, we weren’t making a porn movie; in fact, it is a provocative and poetic journey through the realms of sexuality, loneliness and the pleasurable torment of our existence.
Because you know, that’s exactly what we experienced during our research.”
Mira Gittner