Udo Maurer

On the basis of the hardy perennial "boss-assistant" relation, "The Mortal Fortune" depicts the passion of worldly existence. The anonymous hero of the story, to which the spectator is introduced, attempts at freeing himself from his enslaved life. He finally has to realize the transience of the creature man and whithdraws from the constraints of worldly existence.

The film tells the story of three young men who land in an Austrian prison for various reasons. They have been sentenced for minor misdemeanors and are confronted by the prisons merciless subculture.

'He who wants water must be prepared to kill for it' an old Arab saying goes. At the beginning of the 21st century water, the ancient source of life, already is in short supply all over the world. From the heart of Africa to the Aral Sea in the Kazakh steppe the film portrays different people's lives and their struggle for water and survival.