Pia Hellenthal: Searching Eva

Searching Eva, Pia Hellenthal, 82’, Germany, ZDF 7.12.2020, OV with German subtitles

At the age of 14, Eva Colle decides that the concept of privacy is outdated. Filmmaker Pia Hellenthal picks up this idea on social media, where Eva shares her life with others. She decides to shoot a film “portrait of a modern person”, says the film distribution text. It turns out to be an encounter literally on eye level: Colle, the blogger, influencer, model, feminist, knows perfectly well how to play with the camera and follows through on her intention of never committing to anything. Hellenthal goes with it and stages the film like a flickering illusion on Instagram. “This powerful debut,” reads the Berlinale text, “depicts how a young member of the digital generation stages her fragmented persona as a public spectacle.”

Pia Hellenthal (*1985) is a German director and scriptwriter making both feature films and documentaries. Several of her short films had successful screenings at international festivals before she made her feature-length debut Searching Eva (2020) in cooperation with Das kleine Fernsehspiel, a staged documentary that won the Berlinale’s Teddy Award. The film was screened in Germany and abroad and received the German Documentary Film Award. Hellenthal is currently developing a series.