What if your own body is a home in which you don’t really want to spend a second more than you have to? Henri Maximilian Jakobs tells a story that is hardly lacking in suffering, light as a feather, and with an exuberant sense of humor.
Johann’s story begins with a deep sense of unease that he – “she” at the time – carries around with him like the countless layers of clothing beneath which he conceals his body. The bafflement and aversion with which he perceives himself and the world pretty much match the lack of understanding with which he is met by his fellow human beings.
School is over and a new life is supposed to begin but he cannot muster any enthusiasm for tackling his future. Via an acting school in the Bavarian provinces, a preposterous hipster sausage stand in Berlin-Neukölln, and a stay at a psychiatric hospital, he finally arrives at an important realization: he is in the wrong body. But the road to transition is difficult and often degrading and it involves a lot of doctor's appointments and bureaucratic manoevering.
We follow Johann on his journey to selfdiscovery and the heartbreaking insecurities and injustices that he has to face along the way before he is finally able to look into a mirror for the first time in years.
