DIRECTOR’S

BIOGRAPHY

Alissa Jung discovered her passion for storytelling as a child, participating in radio plays and acting in theatre. At the age of 16, she was discovered while acting in a theatre play and has since built a successful acting career. In her mid-20s, she began directing short films, documentaries, and youth theatre plays.

After taking time to complete her medical degree and work as a paediatrician, she returned to the film industry in 2020, earning a degree in screenwriting from the Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich. In 2022 and 2023, she directed the short films The Wall Must Fall and Farah, the latter of which won the 2024 Goldener Spatz Award, awarded by the Festival des deutschen Films für Kinder (German Children's Film Festival). Paternal Leave marks her feature film directorial debut.

COMMENTS OF
THE DIRECTOR

Few people have the power to shake or hurt you as deeply as your parents—with little things, with a single sentence. Yet few can also provide as much stability in your life. This dichotomy fascinated me. In Paternal Leave, I explore a very specific father-daughter relationship: two complete strangers, yet connected—genetically, through social expectations, and through a shared longing.

In this intimate drama set on a beach, where the story of the daughter and father’s encounter unfolds over just three days, it was important to me not to judge, but to observe and empathise. The stark solitude of a deserted winter coastline in Italy felt like the perfect setting to tell the story of Leo and Paolo’s encounter. On one hand, the ruggedness and stubbornness of this coast mirrors the two main characters. On the other, the German-Italian background of the story allowed me to linguistically distance daughter and father, creating boundaries in communication and making their alienation even more palpable.

I am moved by the dilemma that grows and festers from a past decision. I am touched by the hope for love, and I feel the pain of attempts to make amends—only to complicate things further through repression and avoidance. Paternal Leave is a film about stumbling as a human being, about love, about family. But above all, it is a film about being honest with ourselves—about finding the courage to look at who we really are.