First Work, Then Play

After Maxi wins an important music award, the pressure for her to release an album only increases. But pressure equals crisis, crisis equals self-doubt, and self-doubt does not make for a creative atmosphere. Maxi doesn’t know what to do. Her inner child is angry and resentful and her inner cop lowers her self-confidence, so she ends up feeling like a hamster on its little wheel – tired and useless. Brenda Lien’s graduation film is a playful, glitter-covered study of depression and burnout. She explores what it would be like if our inner child came to life and demanded the care and attention that we so rarely give it as adults. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)