Vom Trockenschwimmer

An exploration of the revival of Nazi sentiment in Germany is the theme of the five short films gathered together in this anthology.

Philip, Max, and Julia Rossmann are brothers and sister. Out of their own life, they try to continue childhood bonds. Through their entanglement in a mysterious event, the three are torn apart. For each, a new beginning. The film begins a year later. Quite impulsively, Philip Rossmann leaves his hide-out to go and look for his lost brother. He meets former friends with whose help he tries to reconstruct his brother's trail. Despite the setbacks his research brings, he is able to track down his brother. They meet.

A documentary focusing on the rebuilding projects in Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.

The story of a young couple who live in a small town with their four-year-old daughter. The husband is so caught up in his work as a policeman that he gradually becomes increasingly alienated from his wife and daughter who become ever closer to one another as they discover the new town. It is only a matter of time before the conflicts within the family manifest themselves.

A group of terrorists want to improve the political clima in Germany by assassinating a leading Poltican. A grotesque which becomes quite serious.

In her public persona, Eleanor “Tussy” Marx was a translator, actress, a children’s rights activist and a persuasive labour organizer, a tireless powerhouse determined to carry on her father’s work. She held her own with twentieth century gods, including both her father and his colleague Engels. In her privately life, however, she was vulnerable and her attraction to the self-indulgent and self-important Edward Aveling led her into misery and ultimately proved fatal.

Five more-or-less distinct sections, all featuring "Freak" Orlando, a woman played by the late Magdalena Montezuma, who appears in various guises and deformities throughout.

Iliteracy today seems to be a small problem globally, but it is hell for the individual illiterate that struggles alone in a hyper communicative era.

For teenage twins Robert and Elena, a weekend can seem endless yet still fly by. Time almost stands still while discussing philosophy, lying in a blissful cornfield near a remote gas station. They are in their own little world, a twin world of twin games and twin love. A confined world where emotions rise, where pressure mounts into rage… The turmoil of adolescence.

David, a recently fired scrapyard worker and Marie, a prostitute, both about 20 years old, meet on New Year's Eve in Berlin and decide to run away together. As David's arm is plastered from an accident Marie continues to prostitute herself to finance their restless journey through the Ruhr area. Their love and their will to survive guide them though all problems.

Aaron had a traumatic childhood. He was constantly beaten by his mother Susanne, who repeatedly used both physical and psychological violence against him. At the age of seven, he was sexually abused by a stranger. He then began having sex with other children of the same age. Today, as a young adult, he is still traumatized and deeply ashamed. When he visits his mother again after four years of silence, he is ready to break his silence.

The story of the good citizen and postworker Bernhardt Stachoviak, who ends up running amok. Others would say: Out of his immense hatred towards mankind. He would say: Against his own will.