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English Titles L

Little Secrets

Original title: Perl oder Pica
German title: Perl oder Pica
Luxembourg, 2006

Director: Cruchten, Pol
Production company: Red Lion

Synopsis:
1962. Norbi, 12 year-old, lives in Luxembourg. His father owns a shop. Norbi has mysteries to solve: what does P stand for, a letter his father often notes in his diary? Who is the killer of rue des Hauts-Fourneaux? In Norbi’s class the boss is Aloyse, older than the other pupils. The teacher’s only interested in those who are likely to pass the entrance exam for secondary school. Norbi’s one of them, but not Aloyse, who feels scorn for Norbi until the latter shows him how to steal sweets: so they become friends. Friendship ends when Aloyse tries to steal a toy from Norbi’s father’s shop. Norbi meets Fred, who talks about Nazis, deserters, mysterious words for Norbi. Fred thinks he’s discovered what P on the father’s diary stands for. He asks Norbi to help him write "Gielemännchen" (collaborator) on the wall of the shop. Norbi has no idea what it’s all about but when he writes the word there’s an outcry in the quarter. For Norbi time has come to prove he’s no longer a child.
(Source: Giffoni 2007)

Comments:
Director's statement
“The small city in which the film is set, even if it deeply reflects life in Luxembourg at the beginning of the 60s, has an universal and eternal character. All over the world fear of a new war and the problems of religion, seen as a means of power to spread fear, are very up-to-date issues. Nonetheless the film is not a drama; serious issues sometimes work better when they are dealt with using a smile or laughter”.
“The film doesn’t intend to be a dusty journey into the past. It doesn’t look back in time with nostalgia or melancholy. Its goal is to break taboos from the past (sexuality, the Church, collaborationism). I refer to Pasolini and Fassbinder that have, through their works, transformed the past into something modern”.
(Source: Giffoni 2007)

Festivals:
Giffoni 2007, Chemnitz 2007, Vienna 2007

World sales address/es:
Quinta (F)

Sold to:
MFA+-Filmverleih (D)