What are you willing to accept in order to have a good life? Maria works as a 24-hour caregiver to a woman in Vienna, and sees her family in Romania only every other month. Her two sons are growing up without her, and her own parents' care needs are increasing as they advance in age. Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel calmly observe the reality of life as a migrant worker, travelling with Maria in her car to and from Austria. Maria lives in a permanent state of conflict, caught between the desire to provide a livelihood for her family, and the sacrifices she makes to do so. Through plugging a gap in vital services abroad, Maria's absence is keenly felt at home.

-- Dir. Maria Lisa Pichler, Lukas Schöffel - 75min - 2024 - Austria, Romania --

"Her life is split between borders and constant goodbyes, a transient emotional state vividly captured in Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel’s intimate portrait. In the opening scene, Maria drives along her local roads, pointing out the houses left empty by those who have moved abroad for work opportunities. Under the precarious forces of economy, it seems as if a whole community is gradually evaporating." - Guardian

"filling a gap in one place creates a new one elsewhere." - *Winner* Franz Grabner Prize 2025 for Cinema Documentary, Diagonale Film Fest

"an empathetic portrait of the cracks in the system" - ethnocineca film fest