Weil ich ein Dicker bin

Filmstill Because I’m Fat

Because I’m Fat

Weil ich ein Dicker bin
Christiane Hein
Retrospective 2022
Documentary Film
GDR
1988
20 minutes
German
subtitles: 
None

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Christiane Hein
DEFA-Studio für Dokumentarfilme
Sebastian Richter
Christiane Hein
Eberhard Brandenburg
Günter Sommer
Erhard Dormeyer

“Everyone says fat people eat too much. But it’s not that simple”, Christiane Hein states at the beginning of her film which follows seven-year-old Robert Becher from Erfurt in his struggle against excess pounds. The stages include a dieting sanatorium complete with “juice day”, humiliating physical education lessons at school and a visit to relatives in the country where Robert experiences a life without teasing and self-punishment. This is where the boy lets go – not easy when thoughts of weight fence one’s life in. Again and again, director Hein inserts scales as a symbolic image reminiscent of a guillotine-like torture instrument. A compassionate portrait.

Carolin Weidner
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