Frank Jacobsen

Fate has taken its toll on the aging cabaret singer Ruth and the young but terminally ill Jonas. Yet despite their great age difference and their entirely opposite experiences in life, they form an intense bond and give each other a reason and purpose to live.

Twelve princesses sleep in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors are securely locked, but in the morning their shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, in mourning, promises his kingdom and a daughter to any man who can discover the princesses'secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be put to death.

Penniless Peter Munk toils day after day as a charcoal burner in the Black Forest. In order to finally achieve the wealth he longs for and thus get closer to his previously unattainable crush Lisbeth, he turns to two mysterious forest spirits with his wishes. While the cranky little glass man can't really help him, the sinister Dutchman-Michel promises him an end to his financial worries. However, he demands Peter's heart in return and puts a cold stone in his chest instead. Although he can now afford everything and finally take Lisbeth as his wife, Peter no longer has any compassion, which soon has devastating consequences not only for himself but also for his fellow human beings.

Eight people gather at a homestead in the middle of nowhere to celebrate a feast together. It is the family members and closest confidants of Anton, who fled from his life a few years ago, broke off all contacts and now unexpectedly invited to his 30th birthday. In joyful anticipation of the prodigal son, those left behind try the spirits of the past.

In today’s Friesland, Fuchs, a food inspector in the district, is always in a good mood and committed to investigating North German snack bars. He dreams of a career in Hamburg, for which he works hard. But his superior at the public order office, Sigmar Koch, asks Fuchs to do him a special favor: he has to accommodate his brother Tillmann, a bad-tempered drunk.