ROMEOS

By Sabine Bernardi

SYNOPSIS

20-years-old Lukas is right in the midst of male puberty - medically triggered – for he was in fact born a girl. Full of the zest for life, he enters big-city life but even upon arrival encounters a major screw up: recruited for his community service he is the only male quartered in the female nurses’ residential hall. What would be a dream for any other boy is acute, everyday stress for Lukas: being transgender means always finding yourself trapped in the wrong social compartment.
Fortunately his best friend Ine sticks by him and sweeps him into the scene of homosexuals in Cologne, where she is very well integrated. Here Lukas experiences his first real flirt – with the cheeky, daredevil and outwardly attractive Fabio. Fabio embodies all that Lukas lacks: disproportionately positive self-confidence and highly erotic masculinity. But Lukas, whose female attributes are still unaltered, is just about to express his desires. The initial attraction between the two boys gradually develops – until Fabio accesses the secret of Lukas’s identity when suddenly all are compelled to risk something for their feelings.
ROMEOS dares to give a most unusual insight into the subject of transgender and humorously and cheekily sets out to do away with conventional thought on such roles. It is a film about love, friendship and a quite remarkable sexual awakening.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Transgender radically altered my view of identity. As a result, in “Romeos” I wanted to tell of the courage of a young person attempting to live what he feels he needs. Uppermost for me it concerns, emotionally, the longings and needs to be happy as a person. In this way “Romeos” is a love story, humorous throughout and at times a little cheeky but also forwarding the view that the identity of a person resides within their own self.

DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY

Sabine Bernardi studied politics and worked as assistant film director. In 2005 she completed her studies in film direction at the international film school of Cologne (ifs). From then on she has worked as a freelance author and director and continues to be engaged in youth work. She has garnered several awards, amongst others, for her documentary film “Transfamily” as well as winning the German Kurzkrimipreis (short thriller prize). “Romeos” was awarded the Cologne screenplay prize and is now making its cinema film debut.
 

CAST

Lukas: Rick Okon
Fabio: Maximilian Befort
Ine: Liv Lisa Fries
Sven: Felix Brocke
Annette: Silke Geertz
Mr. Boeken: Gilles Tschuli
Luka's mother: Sigrid Burkholder
Luka’s father: Johannes Schwab
Leila: Tessa Lukat

CREW

Writer / Director: Sabine Bernardi
Cinematography: Moritz Schultheiß
Editor: Renata Salazar Ivancan
Gaffer: Jens Mackeldey
Music Supervisor: Christoph Becker
Music: Roland Appel
Sound Design: Luigi Rensinghoff
Costume Design: Verena Reuter
Make up: Simone Schlimm
Casting: Laura Solbach
Production Manager: Jens Freels
Producers: Kristina Löbbert & Janna Velber
Production Company: Boogiefilm in co-production with ZDF - Das Kleine Fernsehspiel

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Original Title: Romeos / HD / 1:1,85 / Colour / 94 min / Dolby SR / 35mm, HDCam & Blu-Ray available / German with English subtitles / Germany 2011

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