Cookies on FilmShelves
We use essential cookies to keep the site working. With your permission we also use analytics cookies (so we can fix what's broken) and advertising cookies (so the ads you see are more relevant). Read our privacy policy.
You'll still see ads on the free tier — rejecting just means they won't be personalised.

Directed by Pia Marais Pia Marais' semi-autobiographical debut feature recounts the adolescence of Stevie (Ceci Schmitz-Chuh), a resourceful 14-year-old girl who finds methods of her own to cope with the unstable upbringing afforded her by her hippy parents. When the family moves to a small town in Germany, Stevie attempts to forge a 'normal' life for herself. While her parents spend their days getting high, the house filled with aimless hangers-on, Stevie does her best to make an impression on her new classmates, weaving her own narrative of an imaginary homelife that is stable, comfortable and conventional.

The Unpolished (2007)
95 min
Stevie, a precocious 14-year-old girl must cope with the instabilities of her immoderate parents. When they decide to move to a small provincial town in Germany, Stevie attempts to slip into a normal life. Whilst her parents playfully escape their responsibilities, Stevie tries to make a good impression in town, spreading stories of grandeur and claiming to be the daughter of a diplomat. She makes progress. Yet the good weather doesn’t last and before long, she discovers that her parents have once more resorted to illegal means, as a way of supporting their leisurely lifestyle. As friends and hangers-on of her parents fill their new home, the chaos continually mounts. It is in this atmosphere of physical and emotional destruction, that Stevie must now start to define herself and perhaps even break free.