Two girlfriends from the countryside, Betty and Lilly, only regard the village they live in as a short term home, the starting point from which they will one day discover real life. Betty is a canine beautitian and Lilly works in a garage. They dream of the big wide world, of America, of rodeo and rock ‘n roll. The promised land seems to come within reach when an Elvis imitator visits their village of Ternitz on his tour. In their cowgirl outfits and red Mustang, they go a-hunting, even if only to break out of the rut of their daily lives for a couple of hours. Betty has set her sights on the fake Elvis, while Lilly falls in love backstage with his roadie. The American dream starts to take on a clearer form: Lilly learns English (garage jargon) so she can work in the New World and Betty saves up to have an operation to increase her bust size. But not every dream comes true that easily…Ternitz Tennessee is a bitter-sweet fairytale in which dreams and fantasies about freedom are mixed with the melancholy of everyday life. The cheap glitzy showbiz world awakens a desire with which colourless reality cannot compare. The first full-length feature by Mirjam Unger is borne by the charm of the characters Betty and Lilly, both of whom have a strong will to achieve their goal and an appealing naivety in how they look at the rest of the world.
