Young actress (w/d) to play "Nada" in a student short film

I’m currently looking for various roles for my bachelor’s thesis film :). The film will be at least 30 minutes long.

Shooting days are scheduled both shortly before Christmas (flashback scenes) and in mid-January.

Logline 

What begins as an escape from violence leads two sisters into a system of control and dependency, where their bodies become commodities traded among countless women. While decisions about freedom or disappearance are made within invisible power structures, Nada tries with all her might to ease her feelings of guilt toward her sister.

Synopsis

What begins as an escape from domestic violence leads the sisters Nada and Ida into a world of control, dependence, and silent violence, where freedom exists only as a promise: a transit camp for human trafficking involving women’s bodies.

With every step, Nada and Ida lose more and more of their footing and sense of direction—especially when, after one night, Ida is thrown back into the dormitory with blood flowing down her legs. Decisions do not seem to be made openly, but arise from an invisible web of dependencies that determines who stays, who is passed on, or who disappears. The world seems both familiar and alien, as if its boundaries and standards had quietly shifted. While Nada lets feelings of guilt play out in her mind—evoking a mix of her journey to the camp and her family circumstances—we journey with her into her past.

At first, Nada tries to keep a way out open through resistance, while Ida begins to adapt to the logic of the system in order to survive at all, following punishment for defiant behavior toward one of the clients. A silent, growing rift develops between the two, as protection becomes too much to bear and closeness turns into an ordeal. Another character, Alma, becomes increasingly present and points to a different path in the face of such circumstances. We shift between the present and the memories to which Nada and Alma cling.

At the center is a system in which women are categorized, evaluated, and passed along. Male-dominated networks decide on their allocation into an unofficial cycle that functions like a market. It is precisely its apparent normality for the men that renders the underlying violence invisible and potent. This becomes particularly clear after a sort of auction of the girls.

When the boundaries of this world finally blur, Nada makes one last attempt to escape, after which she is left alone in the forest, tied to a tree. However, when she finally finds the strength to run, a car catches up with her again—it is her pimp. From this point on, Nada’s story repeats itself; we conclude hers. In the end, only Alma is seen—in a more mature form—in a brothel where she works for her pimp. These moments mark not only an attempt at liberation but also the realization that the system does not end locally but continues across countries, spaces, and structures.

The film is intended as an enlightening examination of modern forms of structural exploitation and control, and shows how power operates both through direct violence and through invisibility, dependency, and normalization, while at the same time the content produced by those affected is consumed—often without any knowledge of the conditions under which it is created.

Inspirations— https://www.amazon.de/gp/video/detail/B0B5KX3FM1/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r and https://youtu.be/MFaDHgXPbUg?si=LbQNbEc41WyWNx9V

Contact: Leonie

!! Minor changes may still occur; this is for reference only!!

• The role may include scenes depicting physicality, implied nudity, and violence within the context of the story, as these elements are part of the film’s narrative exploration and educational intent. At the same time, care will be taken to ensure that the portrayal is handled responsibly and that clear mental health support and a supportive framework are guaranteed for the actor throughout the entire production process.

Nada arrives at the camp with her sister Ida. Her plan was to escape domestic violence and, with a job her boyfriend had secured for her in the city, provide her sister with a better upbringing. When her father once again displays violent behavior, she seeks comfort from her “boyfriend” and tries to develop true love for him, since, in her eyes, he offers her only chance—and she neglects her true feelings for another boy. As she spends more time with this man, she falls for his “love bombing.” She doesn’t realize she’s fallen into a “loverboy” trap until it’s already too late at the camp.

Nada fights with all her might to reverse this wrong decision, to deny her own feelings of guilt, and to protect her sister. However, when this doesn’t work, she retreats further and further into her thoughts and memories, leaving the pain behind as a dissociated part of herself. Her memories accompany her right up until the moment she arrives at the camp, and as her last fragments of memory fade away, only the pain returns—along with the realization that even someone as strong and resilient as she is has no chance left in these circumstances. Nada is someone who wants to protect others at every opportunity and sees everyone as more valuable than herself; since her family never portrayed her as someone who deserved anything, she grew up with a constant sense of guilt because she was never wanted. Having grown up in a way that forced her to mature early, she barely had time for her childhood and quickly loses herself in her thoughts so that her pain isn’t revealed to the outside world.

Nada thus embodies the attempt to survive within a system without completely dissolving into it, as well as the painful process in which this attempt increasingly reaches its limits.