Passion Despair is a documentary film by Swiss filmmaker Steff Gruber. Gruber started shooting in 2005. The film premiered at the Gdansk Dokfilm Festival 2011.[1]

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Passion Despair
Directed by	Steff Gruber
Written by	Steff Gruber
Produced by	Steff Gruber
Starring	Daniel Leuenberger Romina Juravskaia Olga Stepnova Katja Neugodnikova Ana Neugodnikova Ana Nasushnaia Larisa Sirbu Luba Voitetcaia Tamara Zaitseva u.a.
Cinematography	Jürg Hassler Steff Gruber
Edited by	Steff Gruber
Music by	Jimmy Gelhaar
Release date	7 May 2011 (2011-05-07)
Running time	93 minutes
Languages	German English Russian Romanian

Overview

Steff Gruber's documentary film portrays the Swiss photographer Daniel Leuenberger, who lives in Moldova and specialises in photographing girls aged between 9 and 14.

Daniel has caused much controversy with the photos of his models which he sells via the Internet. Daniel's critics base their argument above all on the fact that the majority of his customers are pedophiles.

Daniel Leuenberger too finds himself marginalised and pushed to the edge. In the film he talks about how he deals with his feelings, about prejudice and about his work as a photographer of girls. The film raises questions of how images are used and their effects in a world increasingly dominated by the media.

In addition to Daniel's work as a portrait photographer, the film concentrates on the daily struggle for survival of Moldovan families and life in the officially non-existent neighbouring state of Transnistria. The small state, in which half a million people live, is hermetically sealed off from the outside world. Police and secret service are omnipresent; any opposition is nipped in the bud. The film shows how the mostly fatherless families in these two countries find ways to survive.

Festivals

Gdansk DocFilm Festival 2011

References

External links

• Passion Despair at IMDb
• Official website

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