Valerie

Germany, 2006, color, 80 minutes, German with English subitles Director: Birgit Moeller Screenplay: Ruth Rehmet, Ilja Haller, Milena Baisch, Birgit Moeller, Elke Sudmann Producers: Susann Schimk, Joerg Trentmann Cast: Agata Buzek, Devid Striesow, Guntbert Warns, Birol Uenel, Anne Sarah Hartung World Sales: Credo Film

Only days before Christmas, in the glittering glass and steel canyon of Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, 29-year-old Polish fashion model Valerie Adamczyk (32-year-old Polish fashion model-turned-actress Agata Buzek) is so broke her car’s trapped in the hotel garage. An unlikely bond develops between the desperate model and shy parking attendant Andre (David Striesow), who has his own problems. “I never wanted to make a depressing film,” insists debuting director Birgit Moeller. “Although it’s a melodramatic topic, it makes me very happy when there is spontaneous laughing during the film.” There’s also a strong undercurrent of social criticism, with the cold and unforgiving hotels and shopping arcades of new Berlin suggesting that with urban progress comes emotional disengagement. Narratively confident and aborbing for it, the film’s ace in the hole is Buzek’s naturalistic, self-deprecating turn as the haughty swan who takes a dive but is smart enough to learn from it.—Eddie Cockrell

Birgit Moeller (b. 1972, Osnabrueck) graduated from Berlin’s German Film and Television Academy in 2006. She has worked extensively as a director of short films and commercials, and as a cinematographer. Valerie is her feature film directorial debut.