If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile
Australian Premiere
Director: Marie Luise Lehner
Unclassified 15+ | 1:27:00 | Austria | 2025 | German
Gender Diverse | Trans
Coming of Age
A special presentation in collaboration with The Other Film Festival.
We are bringing you If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth and Smile. Winner of the Teddy Jury Award at the 2025 Berlinale.
Intertwining Deaf and trans identities in a coming-of-age story that explores class and the parent-child bond. This film is anchored in authenticity.
Written and directed by Marie Luise Lehner. This poignant debut feature centers on Anna (newcomer Siena Popović). A 12-year-old living in Vienna with her deaf, single mother, Isolde (Mariya Menner). As Anna’s relationships deepen and her struggles grow more complex, she begins to find—and use—her own voice.
The film offers a refreshing, contemporary lens through which queer experiences are normalized. Blending solidarity, feminism, and infectious melodies—flipping shame into pride.
This feature will screen with the charming Australian short With Love, Lottie (DIR: Lily Drummond).
Short
DIR: Lily Drummond
If dating is mostly small talk and social interaction, Lottie fears she’ll never find love. She turns to her close-knit group of friends for guidance in the messy world of dating—with unexpected results. Director Lily Drummond’s short is a love letter to anyone who has ever felt like the odd one out, and a beautifully realised, authentic celebration of first dates inspired by Drummond’s own experiences as a disabled and young queer person.
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