Lipstick is set against the distant yet tangible back¡ground of the present situation in former Yugoslavia. The film is sometimes so realistic that it looks like a documentary. Protagonist is the young Vesna, who is permanently and closely followed by the mobile camera. She is originally from Bosnia and now lives in Vienna with her mother. It looks as if she refuses to think about the situation in her home country – the country where her father still lives. She doesn’t even take the trouble to renew her passport and doesn’t want to think about the future. She lives from day to day.On New Year’s Eve she takes the train to Budapest on the spur of the moment. He hopes she can meet her father there, because he doesn’t have a visa for Austria. In a Budapest exuberantly and chaotically celebrating the new year, she allows herself to be led by chance events and encounters. The young Russian officer Alyoscha feels very attracted to her and follows her through the festive city. She tries to shake him off, but he keeps popping up in her vicinity. She goes to the famous Café New York, where she hopes to see her father and meets the bar pianist Arpad. Around closing time Alyoscha, by now drunk, joins them. The three head into town before ending up at Arpad’s home. When she wants to return home next morning, Austrian immigration won’t let her cross the border.
