Under the Influencer

LUISA recently moved out of her parent's home and is curious about what life has in store for her. She loves parties, is up for any fun, flirts and little adventures. She lives in a residential group at a facility for people with disabilities on the outskirts of a small German town. There she receives support in her often turbulent everyday life. Unnoticed, Luisa becomes increasingly quiet, everyday life in the residential group continues until it is unexpectedly discovered that Luisa is pregnant. Luisa herself does not say how this happened, she remains silent. Everyone knows that her boyfriend Anton is infertile. Suspicion of sexual abuse is obvious. Luisa decides to terminate the pregnancy. The police are called in and try to find out whether a crime has been committed. The investigation becomes a test of endurance for Luisa, her relationship with Anton and for all the staff at the residential facility. For the feature film, the authors conducted interview research in advance and documented everyday impressions during numerous internships in residential facilities in order to provide a view of people with disabilities beyond clichés and trivializations. Sexual abuse of people with disabilities is more common than you might think: In Germany, women were 2-3 times more likely to be affected by sexual violence in adult life than the average female population. The equal casting of a German feature film, with ten actors with disabilities (including the main character) and ten actors without disabilities, is a novelty. In several months of preparation with the entire cast, the characters were further developed and existing access barriers were taken into account in such a way that the actors were not hindered as much in their work process.