Siaka and Victoria are attempting to build a future together between Austria and Gambia. For over a year, filmmaker Ivette Löcker follows the couple’s efforts with great sensitivity. In front of the camera, the two partners reflect on differences in culture and character and grappling with circumstances.

For their path to a little piece of private utopia is repeatedly beset with obstacles, rooted in red tape, racism or unprocessed trauma. Whether it is accompanying wedding preparations and property planning in Gambia or visits to government offices and the process of furnishing an apartment in Vienna, this delicate portrait is invariably informed by the struggle for recognition and the will to grow, on both a personal and societal level.

Ivette Löcker was born in Bregenz/Austria in 1970 and grew up in St. Michael/Lungau. She began studying Slavic studies (Russian), Eastern European history, and sociology in Vienna, graduating in 1997. She then worked as a researcher, production manager and assistant director for documentaries and feature films. Since 2006, she has been directing her own documentary films. She lives and works in Berlin.

Filmography: 2010 NACHTSCHICHTEN, 2014 WENN ES BLENDET, ÖFFNE DIE AUGEN, 2017 WAS UNS BINDET, 2018 ANYA UND SERYOZHA, 2025 OUR TIME WILL COME

Awards: Best Documentary Award (Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2025)

Nominated for the Amnesty International Wiesbaden Film Award for Best Film about Human Rights. A three-member expert jury will decide the winner of this competition.