Renn, wenn du kannst

Run if you can

Ben will have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He’s vivacious, intelligent and desperate. Love is out of the question for disabled people, at least that’s what he tells his new carer, Christian, who is doing his community service. Christian is easy-going; he takes life as it comes. He’ll spend half a year with Ben and then make his own way in life. Annika is studying the cello. She rushes through a life that for her is filled with practicing and perfecting her performance. She cycles past Ben’s apartment every day. Ben watches her longingly every day from his balcony but it’s not until she col- lides with Christian one morning that the three meet and become friends.

The trio soon create a world of their own. But then they fall in love and, naturally the guys want more from Annika than just friendship. Annika can’t decide. She likes Christian’s playfulness, and yet, she’s never met anyone like Ben before – he’s different in every respect: not only is he an interesting person, he’s in a wheelchair. Something that began as a game for all three of them becomes a journey for Ben to his deepest fears – and he won’t be able to find his way out again alone.

Dietrich Brüggemann: "Nowadays affection is a commodity up for negotiation. What’s my value? How attractive am I? Our protagonists ask themselves these questions in the most brutal way imaginable. I wanted to explore the question of whether it’s possible to use the power of ideas to overcome one’s physical limitations – which is of course a concept inherent to cinema."

Source: 60. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)