Ulrike Grote

Budapest in the 1930s. Restaurant owner Laszlo hires pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody sets off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans falls in love with Ilona as well.

Christa Seeliger is proud and happy to work as a secretary for the boss of the traditional Hamburg company Hansecker, because his chocolate factory is famous for having invented the smiling chocolate Santa Claus. It would never occur to her that her boss would much rather be cruising the world's oceans than running his company. So she unsuspectingly allows herself to be used for his purposes when Hansecker secretly sells off the company.

Walter is an unemployed architect, who is getting ready to go for an interview. But just as he is about to leave his flat, an eight-year-old boy, Yuri, approaches him at the door, claiming to be his son.

Claudia lives happily with her husband Jens and their two children Katja and Max in the small town of Barstedt. Her husband has his own small construction company and Claudia, as a housewife, has no financial worries - until she suddenly runs out of money at the bank and learns that the joint account has been blocked.

Hannes Schmitz works as a garbage collector in Hamburg. The ex-soccer player now coaches the youth team of a suburban club. His sayings are just as feared as his unconventional ideas in labor disputes. Hannes lives on a houseboat that he restored himself and has a well-balanced relationship with his likeable long-term fiancé Isolde. His pride and joy is his pretty and clever daughter Annika, whom he raised alone. He would do anything for her. He even slips into an uncomfortable suit and tie and has himself chauffeured to Hamburg-Blankenese. In the small family circle, Hannes is supposed to get to know his future son-in-law, the young chef Alexander. Annika is amazed when she is received with her father in a grand villa.

Farocki’s intriguing and troubling film explores the processes of visual perception and how they affect our understanding of history and society. In a work reminiscent of the writings of Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, Farocki examines a range of phenomena including aerial reconnaissance photos of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Only a short time left until Max Telligan's diary is finished. Hollywood is already interested in the book's film rights. US producer Terry Wilde makes the successful British author a lucrative offer. But shortly after the negotiations, the American is found dead at the airport and a fierce battle for the diary begins. Telligan's wife Harriet and daughter Marsha also feel the effects. Terrorists, the CIA and Scotland Yard suddenly take an interest in the book. But Telligan's beautiful secretary Liz Ferber defies all threats and saves the manuscript from shady characters and brutal intruders. Will she uncover the secret of the book?

Nicole Wagner finds out by chance that her son cannot be the son she once fathered with the scaffolder Grille. Nine years ago there was a mix-up with an infant named Sebastian, the son of the academic couple Callenberg, who live at the other end of Freiburg in very different circumstances to Nicole and Grille in their middle-class environment. Grille is inquisitive about the unknown son, unlike Nicole, who is very upset, as are Sven and Britta Callenberg. But what can be done? The children are anchored in their families, they are loved and nobody wants to make them unhappy. The parents reserve the right to leave everything as it is. But their thoughts about their biological son do not subside...