Swiss Film at Fanatika International Documentary Festival
I love me - Actress with Down’s Syndrom by Andrea Pfalzgraf will be screened in Ahmedabad and Vadodara as part of the Fanatika International Theatre Documentary Festival.

I love me - Actress with Down’s Syndrom by Andrea Pfalzgraf will be screened in Ahmedabad and Vadodara as part of the Fanatika International Theatre Documentary Festival.

I Love Me – Actress with Down’s Syndrom by Andrea Pfalzgraf
Country: Switzerland 
Language: Swiss German

Training a woman with Down’s syndrome to be an actress? To be honest, I did not think it would really be possible. However, I grew curious when Zurich’s HORA Theatre (established by the Züriwerk Foundation) offered precisely this kind of course. It opened up a whole new world to me, thanks to then 18-year-old Julia Häusermann. She had just enrolled in this course in the summer of 2010.
One might think that shooting a film with a mentally handicapped protagonist is risky. It isn’t, though. It is, very simply, a gift. Julia taught me to live more in the present instead of always thinking about yesterday or tomorrow and, as a result, maybe forgetting about the now. This is the way Julia lives.

It took me while, however, to realize this. When we had our first interview I felt that our conversation was fun and going well. Suddenly she burst into bitter tears. I was at a loss, and the cameraman and I looked at each other in confusion. Concerned, I asked her what was wrong. “I was just remembering that Michael Jackson’s died,” the young woman sobbed in despair, tears spurting almost horizontally from her usually cheerful eyes.

When I pointed out that we were talking about her and that she was basically in good spirits, she suddenly smiled, and her misery was forgotten. That is typical of people with Down’s syndrome. It’s the moment that counts and the moment is always real, for better or worse. That’s something we experienced time and again over the past two years.

by Andrea Pfalzgraf