Script Pool
Fabula Rasa
After bored housewife Anna discovers that she is the protagonist in a clichéd novel, she fights back against her author - increasingly blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. An emancipatory struggle between creation and creator begins.
OTTO (35) and ANNA (30) live in a suburb of a major North German city. They are a young couple, like something out of a bank commercial. Otto commutes to the city daily, where he works at a consulting firm. Anna manages the household and runs an Etsy shop offering custom-made women's jackets. The couple is educated, secure, and bored. However, their lives are not normal because an omniscient NARRATOR shapes their reality. The disembodied voice not only moulds the environment — objects change colour, shape, or type as soon as described — but also influences their decisions, steering them onto a predetermined path. The narrator wants Otto to kill Anna, but Anna disrupts the order by killing Otto instead. The narrator stumbles, unsure of how to handle Anna as the new protagonist. He struggles to regain control, leading to a cat-and-mouse game between the narrator and his unruly creation. The battle for power over reality and fiction intensifies as Anna challenges the narrator's authority.
Keywords: social status, women, human rights
Director's note:
Fabula Rasa is a thriller-comedy exploring the fundamental questions of creation within fiction and human consciousness. Anna, originally just a supporting character in a novel, suddenly becomes aware of her fictional existence and must assert herself against her creator. We accompany a young woman on the journey of self-discovery and exploration of her being. This is a major challenge for Anna, as her character has so far been denied any of her own characteristics, background, or even special features. But when Anna realizes that she possesses a certain agency in her fictional suburban world, an emancipatory odyssey begins for her. Anna carves her way through her small world, hoping to one day see the light at the end of the tunnel. Over time, she realizes that the question of whether she can become a real person is not her creator's decision but can only be answered through her actions. This premise offers a thrilling backdrop for a complex character study that explores the subconscious intricacies of what makes a person become themselves and makes them uniquely tangible.
Producer's note:
Through our universal themes of self-discovery, solidarity, emancipation, and the question of consciousness and existence, we appeal to a broad, international audience. We aim to inspire and provoke thought and reflection with our films on cinema screens and at film festivals worldwide. With a queer love story at the centre of Fabula Rasa, we focus on a type of love relationship often portrayed in a one-dimensional manner and underrepresented in the media. Drawing inspiration from the tonality of Jordan Peele, the mind-bending storytelling of Charlie Kaufman, the brutality of Mary Harron, and the unapologetic approach of Emerald Fennell, Fabula Rasa creates a world of human depths that we are grateful can only exist in fiction. It gives us hope that the boundaries of the screen can endure.
Steffen Gerdes is a Creative Producer with extensive experience in advertising and marketing for international feature films. At Pandora Filmverleih, he led projects like UFO IN HER EYES by Xialo Guo, SOUL KITCHEN, and THE CUT by Fatih Akin, creating innovative marketing strategies. At Red Balloon Film, he worked as a Producer on co-productions such as HAPPY HOLIDAYS by Scandar Copti, YUNAN by Ameer Fakher Eldin, YURT by Nehir Tuna and L’EMPIRE by Bruno Dumont. Steffen is a member of EAVE.
2024 Happy Holidays - writer, director Scandar Copti - Feature Film 2024 Yunan - writer, director Ameer Fakher Eldin - Feature Film 2023 L ́Empire – writer, director: Bruno Dumont - Feature Film 2023 Yurt (Dormitory) – writer, director: Nehir Tuna - Feature Film 2023 A House In Jerusalem - writer, director: Muayad Alayan - Feature Film 2022 Maret - writer, director: Laura Schröder - co-writer Judith Angerbauer - Feature Film
Miriam studied screenwriting at the NYC Film Academy and Hamburg Media School, graduating as the youngest student in their history. She began writing TikTok and short video sketches for ZDF and contributed to the screenplay GEMINI, nominated for the German Screenplay Award. Miriam worked on the award-winning sitcom NIX FÜR JUNGS and has been part of the writers' room for DOPPELHAUSHÄLFTE, one of Germany’s most successful comedies, and a finalist for the German Television Award and Prix Europa.
2024 - Nix Für Jungs (dir. E&O Belton) 2024 - Doppelhaushälfte 2024 - Player Of Ibiza (dir. E&O Belton) 2023 - Sweat, sitcom 2022 - Alles Gut Aber / Pilot For A Webseries / KIKA 2021 - Gemini (dir. Jasmin Luu) - Script Consultant 2020 - Spicy - Comedy-Author For Funk
About: Based on its founders’ longstanding experience, maze has successfully developed and (co-) produced artistically ambitious fictional ideas for movies and high end series for the national and international market. Filmography: [Rumours (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30841606/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Rumours) [Return to Silent Hill (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22868010/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_0_in_0_q_Return%2520to%2520Silent%2520Hill) [Another German Tank Story (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32485941/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_0_in_0_q_Another%2520German%2520Tank%2520Story) [The Crow (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340094/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_0_in_0_q_The%2520Crow) [The Crimson Rivers (2022)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349016/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_7_prd)
About: Red Lion was founded in 1996 by Jeanne Geiben and Pol Cruchten, who were joined by Vincent Quénault in 2013. Since the passing of Pol Cruchten, a pioneer of Luxembourg’s cinema, Jeanne Geiben and Vincent Quénault have been acting as producers for the company. Filmography: [Black Tea (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21994228/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Black%2520Tea%2520) [Lost Country (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6430442/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_%2520Lost%2520Country%2520(I)%2520) [Maret (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14518872/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_6_nm_2_in_0_q_Maret%2520) [The Invitation (2022)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11719504/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_The%2520Invitation%2520) [Barrage (2017)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5797756/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Barrage%2520)
About: RED BALLOON FILM, founded in 2016 by CEO & Producer Dorothe Beinemeier and maze pictures in Hamburg, Germany, specializes in children and family entertainment as well as high-quality arthouse content, drawing on years of national and international experience. Filmography: [Happy Holidays (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28522171/?ref_=nm_knf_t_2) [Yunan (2024)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24022322/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_in_0_q_YUNAN) [L’Empire (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17375596/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_1_wr) [Yurt (Dormitory) (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20236042/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_in_0_q_yurt) [A House In Jerusalem (2023)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16317452/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_A%2520HOUSE%2520IN%2520JERSUALEM)