Justus Carrière

Based on the story of Jesse Owens, the athlete whose quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him onto the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy.

A stage actor's turn as GDR leader Erich Honecker inspires an outlandish scheme to keep his daughter safe during the Leipzig protests of 1989.

25-year-old electrician Thomas Tänzer is happily escaping the provincial confines of everyday life in the GDR – to the desert, to work in Algeria. Behind him lie a failed marriage and abandoned studies. But he can't cope in Algeria either. The rules have traveled with him – in the form of his superiors. Unordered solidarity, his relationship with the married Doris, and similar issues cause him difficulties. His father falls seriously ill, and he cuts short his stay abroad. At home, he realizes that his wife and child have become complete strangers to him. Doris, his "Algerian affair," now has a child by him, but treats him coldly. He makes a half-hearted suicide attempt by car, which he survives. When he hears about a disaster in Algeria, he volunteers for service, but is not accepted because of his poor personnel file.

In the early 60s, Bernward Vesper and fellow university student Gudrun Ensslin begin a passionate love in the stifling atmosphere of provincial West Germany. Dedicated to the power of the written word, Bernward and Gudrun found a publishing house whose first publication is, paradoxically to many, a controversial past work of Bernward's ostracized father, an infamous Nazi author. Bernward defends his father's writing ability, even if he is haunted by his father's suspicious past.

Thirteen German directors present short films exploring the state of their country.

The dream of owning a house in the countryside comes true by chance for a family with two children. The parents buy "a house in need of slight renovation" at auction, but have obviously overstretched themselves in several ways. Of all things, the supposed snag in this house, which was nevertheless purchased at a low price, is two strange old neighbors who soon turn out to be a blessing for the family...

Franz and Lilly run their father's cattle farm together. While Franz is perfectly happy with his life as a cowboy, Lilly dreams of a bigger life. That's when she meets Chris, a musician, with whom she starts a romantic affair.

Painter Freddy lives with his wife and child on Lake Tegernsee and is working on his comeback until one day his life suddenly turns upside down: He is accused of beating up his wife and as a result of which he is said to have custody of his eight-year-old son withdrawn . But Freddy can not remember having committed the alleged acts and protests his innocence. In this grave crisis, Eddy appears, Freddy's childhood friend. Both look confusingly alike and Eddy immediately begins to interfere in Freddy's life, in which worse things happen. Only Freddy knows that he has a doppelganger, an imaginary one at that - how is he supposed to convince those around him that it is Eddy who is to blame for all the disasters? Freddy is slowly losing control of his life...