FOLLOWING A PAINFUL FAMILY DINNER THOMAS IS ASKED BY HIS SISTER CHARLOTTE TO MEET HER THE FOLLOWING EVENING. NEARING THE RENDEZVOUS THOMAS SEES THE LIGHTS OF EMERGENCY VEHICLES AND DISCOVERS THAT CHARLOTTE, A STRONG SWIMMER, HAS DROWNED...
AFTER WINNING THE GRAND JURY SILVER BEAR FOR MIFUNE IN 1999, SØREN KRAGH-JACOBSEN'S RETURN TO THE BERLINALE BRINGS HIM TOGETHER WITH SOME OF THE MOST RENOWNED SCANDINAVIAN ACTORS LIKE ANDERS W. BERHELSEN AND MARIE BONNEVIE.
THIRTY-SOMETHING ANICA FEELS RESTLESS IN HER DEAD-END LIFE WITH AN OLDER MAN AND SMALL-TIME MOBSTER IN BELGRADE. TONIGHT SHE'LL SECRETLY EMPTY HIS SAFE OF PROTECTION MONEAY AND LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOR GOOD START ANEW. WHAT ANICA DOESN'T KNOW IS THAT TODAY IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT DAY FOR THOSE AROUND HER. A DAY FOR NUMEROUS CONFRONTATIONS AND REVEATIONS. BUT IT'S SENSITIVE YOUNG THUG STANISLAV'S CONFESSION OF LOVE TO ANICA WHICH WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING… DIRECTOR OF THE AWARD-WINNING(OSCAR NOMINATION, BERLIN GOLDEN BEAR, EFA) SHORT (A)TORSION.
ALEX NEEDS MONEY TO RESCUE HIS PROSTITUTE GIRLFRIEND, TAMARA, FROM HER SEEDY UNDERWORLD. WHEN SHE IS SHOT IN A FAILED BANK ROBBERY, DISTRAUGHT ALEX LIES LOW AT HIS GRANDFATHER'S DESOLATE FARM. SILENT AND WITHDRAWN, ALEX IS CONSUMED WITH GRIEF AND THE HATE HE HARBORS FOR THE POLICEMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR TAMARA'S DEATH. WITH REVENGE ON HIS MIND, ALEX SPIES ON POLICEMAN ROBERT, TROUBLED BY HIS FIRST KILLING, AND HIS FRUSTRATED WIFE SUSANNE, DESPERATE FOR A CHILD… FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ACCLAIMED ANTARES.
CHIKO WANTS TO MAKE IT ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP. HE AND HIS BEST FRIEND, TIBET, THINK THAT MONEY, POWER AND RESPECT IS ALL THAT COUNTS FOR TWO YOUNG GUYS OF TURKISH BACKGROUND IN THE SUBURBAN GHETTOS OF HAMBURG. CHIKO USES HIS RUTHLESS WITS TO CATCH THE ATTENTION OF BROWNIE, THE DRUG LORD WHO CONTROLS EVERYTHING THE TWO FRIENDS DREAM OF. CHIKO FIGHTS FOR BROWNIE'S TRUST AND RESPECT AND EVENTUALLY BECOMES BROWNIE'S RIGHT HAND IN THE LOCAL DRUG UNDERWORLD. BUT WHEN TIBET CROSSES VIOLENT BROWNIE, CHIKO FINDS HIMSELF IN AN DANGEROUS SITUATION. EVERYTHING HE HAS RISKED HIS LIFE FOR IS AT STAKE: HIS REPUTATION, HIS STATUS, AND HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH TIBET.
A MAN, A WOMAN, TWO CHILDREN: A FAMILY. HE IS A MUSICIAN. SHE USED TO BE ONE UNTIL THE CHILDREN CAME. ONE DAY, MARIE DISCOVERS THAT NOT FAR FROM WHERE THEY LIVE, HER HUSBAND THOMAS HAS SET UP A SECOND LIFE FOR HIMSELF, A SECOND HOME WITH A SECOND FAMILY.
