Rita is an unruly outsider, she is indifferent to her classmates, her teachers find her rude, and her parents lock her in as punishment. Her clumsy sexual awakening leads her to intimacy with a schoolboy, too young, and a bus driver, too old. These encounters isolate her even more, until one day Rita steps out of bounds.

Jessica Hausner was born in 1972 in Vienna, Austria. She studied Filmmaking in Vienna, where she made FLORA, awarded the Léopard du Demain at Locarno 1996, and INTER-VIEW, her graduation film, awarded the Jury Prize at the Cannes Cinéfondation in 1999. Two years later, Jessica Hausner returns to Cannes for her feature debut LOVELY RITA, show on DV with amateur actors, like FLORA and INTER-VIEW, and shot digitally.