Helena Třeštíková’s film is a remarkable documentary tracing fourteen years in the life of a young junkie and her futile battle with drug addiction. Why did she start taking drugs? She claims she wanted to be different. The year is 1996 and 19-year-old Katka lives in the Sananim therapy community in the town of Němčice with hope for a normal life – she dreams of having a boyfriend and even a family, some day. But there’s no happy ending.

The director records Katka’s descent over the years into a spiral of theft, prostitution, physical and psychological deterioration – a spiral that is broken only by brief flashes of hope and resolutions to stop taking drugs. Katka’s desire is sincere, but in the end drugs always win. Will Katka finally find the strength when she becomes pregnant and motherhood offers her life-sustaining motivation?

Dir. Helena Třeštíková - 90min - 2010 - Czech Republic

"Třeštiková captures touching moments, such as when Katka jumps into a fountain with all her clothes on. In these scenes, we see the beautiful, healthy woman that still exists behind the shroud of addiction" - IDFA

"As the camera lingers silently on the subject deteriorating in front of us, it is impossible to miss the physical disintegration as the darkly beautiful girl develops into a haggard woman riddled with scars and sores." - Full Frame Fest

"Railway station corridors and shadowy squats give the film a haunted grayish palette. Yet before drugs ravage Katka, Trestikova finds lyricism in this gaunt damaged girl. In meditative moments, the addict resembles cadaverous Madonnas from the Blue Period of Picasso, who chose similar outcasts for his models." - ScreenDaily