If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth And Smile

 
Marie Luise Lehner's debut film tells the story of Anna and her deaf mother Isolde and is about what it is like to transform the shame of one's own origins into pride, about affection, care, and solidarity.
 
Twelve-year-old Anna switches from middle school to high school. Things are quite different here: the children in the new school come from a completely other social class. Anna feels ashamed of her background and her deaf mother. During the ski week, Anna must pretend to be sick. The money set aside for the ski course is spent on buying a sofa bed, which should enable her mother to have a sexual relationship, but also provide the daughter with a bit more privacy. Mara, a friend in class, becomes an ally when it turns out that she also is hiding a secret. "If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth And Smile" tells of a journey from shame to pride and examines what it's like to learn to stand up for yourself. Instead of using the familiar and far too often told image of the socially depraved underclass, the film develops a narrative of hope, affection, mutual care, and solidarity.