Annette Paulmann

The subject of male prostitution gets a distinctly zany and offbeat twist in Stellungswechsel (AKA Special Escort), Maggie Peren's tale of five male underdogs who promulgate themselves as female escorts in the city of Munich. Of that group, we meet policeman Gy, in hot water with his insurance company and enduring the vicissitudes of an on-again, off-again romance with comely Daphne; twentysomething Lasse, who lives with his mom and is pathetically henpecked by her; Giselher, a chronically unemployed former manager; Frank, a philologist who spends his days as a house husband; and Olli, a deli proprietor whose business is rapidly going under. These five conjure up the wild idea of charging for liaisons with emotionally needy women, but the scheme doesn't exactly go as planned - as none can even begin to anticipate the eccentricities or oddities of the female clients who turn up in response to their offer.

Franziska had to release her newborn son for adoption on pressure from her parents as she was a teenager. Now 25 years later she has a successful career as a businesswoman. When her friends Bogdan and Mimi adopt a Ukrainian child, she remembers her own child. As the relationship with her partner Robert breaks up, she decides to search for him. She finally finds Oliver, her son in Munich. He grew up in various homes and foster care. He is a drug addict and now has a child himself with his girlfriend Sandy. She persuades him to withdraw and supports him.

Christmas is just two weeks away, it is pouring with rain, and Ben is struggling to get into the Christmas spirit. Suddenly, Bens life takes a turn for the better when Santa Niklas Goodfellow and his Christmas caravan come crashing down to Earth in the middle of thunderstorm and land in Foggy Lane. Santa is on the run from the ruthless Gerold Geronimus Goblynch and his army of nutcrackers who have outlawed all of the old magical ways and have transformed the bright and peaceful Christmas world into a dark and hostile place, governed by greed and money. Goblynch has banned work for all Santas and confined the Christmas angels to tiny prison cells, where they can no longer hear the dearest wishes of children. Goblynch also wants to force Santa Niklas Goodfellow, the last real Santa, to work for his commercialized Christmas company and forces him to do hard labour in the ordering department of the Christmas Palace.

Unfortunately, Fanny can only enjoy her unexpected wealth for a short time. The tax office asks her to pay a hefty inheritance tax. Because of the valuable property, she has to pay far more than she was bequeathed in cash. Debts again - and her "crazy" half-brother Elias on top of that? She would like to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

Shortly before her 40th birthday, the successful surgeon Anne May is plagued by self-doubt: Actually, she would have to be satisfied, since she has long been married to her childhood sweetheart Peter and has built up a working family life with him. Nevertheless, Anne is deeply unhappy. When her husband is on a business trip, she meets Carolin Winter, the mother of a school friend of her son. Quickly, the two women make friends, Anne gets carried away by the joie de vivre of the native Chilean.

Diagnosis burnout: The successful career woman Toni Lehmstedt can be referred to a psychiatric clinic after a physical breakdown. Urs Egger's free adaptation of the biographical novel of the same name by Miriam Meckel with Grimme award winner Marie Bäumer in the leading role.