Max Woelky
The summer of 1986 begins on a promising note for Erfurt sisters Catrin and Maja Streesemann – they’ve finally received a travel permit for their first holiday at Lake Balaton. The only thing is, they have no idea that they’re being watched by the Stasi as the spies in swimming trunks of the Balaton Brigade have been watching out for East Germans attempting to escape to the West, with the holiday resort as a starting point. Catrin is quick to make new friends at the campsite, especially winsome Rudi from Mühlhausen, whose overtures clearly aim for more than just friendship; younger Maja is magically attracted to the glamour of the elegant Balaton-Residenz luxury hotel where only Western tourists are allowed to stay. Fate leads them not only into the Balaton-Residenz, but also to Tamás, the Hungarian hotel boss. Catrin immediately falls for the charming Hungarian, but Maja is the one to steal a kiss from him at the first opportunity, casting a shadow on the sisters’ otherwise close relationship. And the next disaster comes along, as their mother Kirsten has every reason to believe that her daughters’ trip to Hungary could wreak havoc on the family after an ominous phone call from Hungary. Using a pretext, she persuades her husband Karl to start the Trabant and drive after Maja and Catrin.
The senior investment banker Jochen Walther is at the peak of his career at the Deutche Bank. He just finished the deal of his life along with his personal assistant Tom Slezak, when during the celebrations he suddendly jumps from the roof of the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt. Was it suicide or even a murder?
Katharina and Steffen seem like the quintessential successful Berlin couple -- they have well-paying jobs, a loving relationship and a spectacular apartment. One night, fed up with the predictability of their lives, they decide on a radical change: They're going to extinguish all traces of their existence and start over. They set up a camera to film the process, hoping others will follow their lead. They begin to destroy their belongings, empty their bank accounts and erase the digital remnants of their lives. Even from their best friends, the couple Robert and Paul, they intend to hide their plan to disappear forever. As everything around them breaks into pieces, their film takes a turn of its own - and their secretive revolution becomes a fight for their love.
Senta and Thomas are dying to fall in love - just not with one another. Still, when two people - a hopeless romantic and a system analyst - meet, an unexpected amour fou ensues.
Benny and Franz are thieves. The brothers steal jeans in shopping centers and boutique stores. Their routine involves a scam in which Benny, the younger of the two, has to play the ungrateful role of the decoy. When they encounter an overstrung shop assistant, it becomes clear to Franz that Benny’s not going to let himself be pushed around very much longer.
