Verdammt in alle Eitelkeit

Anyone who is keen to capture Berlin's most original characters on film is bound to end up at Sylvia Heidemann's door. Sylvia has saved up every penny of her reparation money to appear just once in her life on the silver screen like Greta Garbo. It just so happens that the Viennese filmmaker Andersch and Madame Heidemann are staying at the same hotel and it's not long before the two strike a bargain. But alas and alack! The man with the cheap video equipment turns out to be a real rogue, trampling rough shod over the dreams and desires of many a character actor desperate for a career.The same fate awaits Juwelia, star of the living room stage "La Belle Etage"and her tenement block friends, some of whom are talented while others are just plain exhibitionist. All are drawn like moths to lamplight by the magnetic power of the camera's lens . . . (Berlinale)