Shortfilm, Color 4k, 20 minutes, 2026

Graduation Film at HFBK Hamburg in the class of Omer Fast

States of consciousness of an isolated protagonist who stares outward from within. Trapped in her room, in her mind, in a liminal world. All she has left is her constant gaze out the window and the unannounced visits. The growth, shedding, and gathering of her hair, as well as her perception of reality, which she seems to be gradually losing.

Director: Nele Borchert
Camera: Nele Borchert, Ben Meyer 
Edit: Nele Borchert 
Color Grading: Elizaveta Ostapenko
Sounddesign: Tobias Krüger, Giovanni Dinello
Set Design: Mouna Weitz 
Cast: Lina Helfrich, Hanna Zelmanovics 

Commentary by Omer Fast: If you purge the prince and witch from Rapunzel’s story what’s left? Is the eponymous protagonist finally free? Is she even in a fairy tale anymore or in some sort of solitary limbic state where childhood and adulthood are no longer distinct? Will Rapunzel ever leave her tower? Will she become sovereign? Will she gain agency? Nele Borchert’s short film attempts to radically distill the fairy tale by focusing solely on its protagonist, her immediate surroundings, her body, and, of course, her hair.

Filmstills: