Sick Girls

Filmstill Sick Girls

Sick Girls

Sick Girls
Gitti Grüter
German Competition Documentary Film 2023
Documentary Film
Germany
2023
79 minutes
German,
Swiss German
Subtitles: 
English

In recent years, the number of diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has skyrocketed. What are the reasons? Does a society geared towards efficiency use the label ADHS to weed out anyone who does not fit its frames? What are the consequences of the fact that medication treatment has become almost ubiquitous? Could Ritalin and the like have become the doping of the performance society?

In their very personal documentary, Gitti Grüter, diagnosed with ADHS since puberty, sets out to find answers. Grüter talks to five women who have been officially diagnosed with this disorder about lack of concentration, impulsive behaviour, overstimulation, relationship problems, depression and insomnia. The open conversations gradually reveal how hard life can be for women with ADHS, because social stereotypes of femininity often prevent or delay the right diagnosis. Through the calculated use of filmic means, Grüter manages to convey to the audience a sense of the permanent and overpowering inner and outer chaos. Skilfully and with a generous dose of irony, they focus on how people suffering from ADHS are stigmatised – and not least on the role of gender stereotypes in this process. The conclusion is surprising and encouraging.

Luc-Carolin Ziemann

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Gitti Grüter
Script
Gitti Grüter
Cinematographer
Lenn Lamster
Editor
Dan Gatzmaga
Producer
Christoph Holthof, Daniel Reich, Norman Bernien
Co-Producer
Sara Günter, ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
Sound
Simon Ferber
Sound Design
Larissa Kischk, Eva Perhácová, Simon Schüler
Score
Valeriia Khazan, Felix Römer
German Distributor
Luna Selle
Nominated for: Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize, Gedanken Aufschluss Prize, DEFA Sponsoring Prize, VER.DI Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness