At first glance, Ronni is a normal 17-year-old girl who goes out for pizza with a group of other teenagers. But while her friends are enjoying their dinner, Ronni is having an internal struggle. Because eating a piece of pizza is something she hasn't done since she was a child. What if she likes it? What if she wants more and more of it? When her front teeth touch the warm dough of the pizza slice, it is a big moment for her. A breakthrough. Because Ronni is not a “normal” girl and this is not a happy evening with friends. Ronni struggles with eating disorders and the people around her are residents of a youth psychiatric facility where she recently moved.
The daily struggle with the eating disorder
The series “Hungry” begins with her mother admitting Ronni to child and adolescent psychiatry against her will because of her anorexia. Ronni has absolutely no interest in the whole thing because she thinks she absolutely doesn't belong here. And how are others supposed to help her if she doesn't understand herself?
She tries to run away, wants to be thrown out - but finally she accepts it. In the psychiatric ward she discovers a new system of mutual support, new friends who encourage her and with whom she feels connected in her suffering. A resident calls out to her: “If we're all loco, then at least we're together.” Thanks to this solidarity among those with eating disorders and depression, Ronni is slowly fighting her way back to life.
Under “Providers”InstagramActivate to see content
As viewers, we accompany Ronni in her everyday life at the clinic. We sit with her at the lunch table and stare at a full plate of cream pasta or experience her overwhelm as she faces her greatest fear every day: dessert. We see her in the therapy sessions when the therapist wants to make it clear to her that her anorexia will kill her and Ronnie doesn't care despite her will. The series offers unvarnished insights into the everyday therapy routine of patients with eating disorders and tells how one can find hope in overcoming them.
A series by those affected for those affected
What is special about the series is its perspective: “Hungry is a series that was written by those affected,” explains lead author and leading actress Zoe Magdalena. The 20-year-old knows what she's talking about because a few years ago she was in a clinic because of an eating disorder. She has now incorporated her experiences from this time into the series: “The time there was so formative - I have rarely experienced a place where so much pain, but also love, absurdity, humor and sarcasm existed at the same time. The time there was completely crazy in the most tragic and best sense. Already during my stay I knew that at some point, when I was feeling better, I would like to write about it. Because if I can get better, then others can too.” In addition, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Cologne, the Federal Association for Eating Disorders ANAD and the Federal Center for Health Education have given the series their blessing.
Under “Providers”YoutubeActivate to see content
The topic of the series is very relevant: In Germany, around 50,000 young people between the ages of twelve and seventeen are affected by eating disorders - and the numbers are rising. That's why her series is “not educational, but real and raw. And ironically, that’s exactly what helps,” explains Zoe Magdalena. You can find all six episodes of “Hungry” in the ZDF media library.
