A production of mem-film GmbH

Directed by: Felix Fuchssteiner

Screenplay: Katharina Schöde & Felix Fuchssteiner

Cast: Elisa Schlott, Petra Kleinert, Michael Lott, Sina Tkotsch, Annekathrin Bürger

DP: Matthias Schellenberg, Ralf H. Schlotter

Production Design: Barbara Falkner, Sabrina Barteleit

Costume Design: Susanne Weiske

Make-Up: Anna Jäger

Editor: Nicole Kortlüke

Music by: Philipp F. Kölmel

DRAUSSEN AM SEE / LOSING BALANCE shows the problems of growing up in a family that falls apart piece by piece.

14-year-old Jessika always feels responsible for everyone. She is the heart and soul of her family - and their moral conscience. The discovery of sexuality, the loss of innocence and the confrontation with death plunge Jessika into ever greater turbulence. 
At the beginning there is the perfect staging of family normality and harmony. An arbor by the lake is the center of the family's weekend idyll, but the superficial family unity is soon exposed as a facade. Jessika, who is initially bored by the monotony and uneventfulness of family life, has to cope with the fact that her father loses his job, the conflicts between the parents intensify and the sister is only interested in sex and boys. Structures break down, everyday life comes apart at the seams. For Jessika the situation becomes increasingly unbearable, she alone does everything to keep the family together. Her beloved dad becomes more and more her adversary and even the first, quiet love for the neighbor boy Tim has no chance under these circumstances. Jessika has to endure the disintegration of the family until it culminates in an incomprehensible act: The mother gives birth to a baby alone - unplanned, unwanted, there seems to be no place for this little life. It is buried in the arbor under the patio floor.
This incident is never spoken about, and to the outside world Jessika's father tries with all his might to maintain the image of a perfect family. But Jessika can't suppress what happened and threatens to break from the secret. No one seems to notice what is happening to her. Only when it is almost too late does Jessika realize that her only chance for happiness and a future lies in freeing herself from the grip of her family and her overbearing father. It comes to a drastic liberation...