LOVELY RITA

Jessica Hausner

Austria, Germany 80 min Fiction

Synopsis

Rita, a wilful and unruly teenager, is on the verge of womanhood. Her sexual awakening leads her to intimacy with a schoolboy, too young, and a bus driver, too old. Rita’s efforts to break out of her solitude and claustrophobic environment isolate her even more, until one day she crosses the line.

Themes

LoveEuropean CinemaFemale DirectorReligionSex

Filmmaker

Jessica Hausner

(Vienna, 1972) She studied directing at the Film Academy of Vienna where she made the award-winning short films, Flora (1996) and Inter-view (1999). In 2001, her debut feature film, Lovely Rita premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. She returned to Un Certain Regard with her second feature, Hotel, in 2004. In 2009, Lourdes was selected in Competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize. Amour fou was Hausner’s third film to be presented in Un Certain Regard, where it premiered in 2014. Little Joe is Jessica Hausner’s fifth feature film and her English-language debut.

Filmography: Little Joe (2019), Amour fou (2014), Lourdes (2009), Toast (curt, 2006), Hotel (2004), Lovely Rita (2001), Inter-view (curt, 1999), Flora (curt, 1995)

Jessica Hausner

Film information

Director: Jessica Hausner
Script: Jessica Hausner
Contact: Coproduction Office
With: Barbara Osika, Christoph Bauer, Peter Fiala
Country: Austria, Germany
Year: 2001
Format: Digital
Length: 80 min
Language: German
Subtitles: Spanish
Edition: 2020

Poster

LOVELY RITA