Peter Raffalt

Angela Merkel's decision in autumn 2015 to open the borders for refugees split the country - some praised the moral stance, others criticized the surrender of sovereignty. Yet what would appear to be well-planned activity is in reality a policy of muddling along, chance, trial and error. The Driven Ones is a chronicle of the refugee crisis which shows that the political actors are being driven along, crushed between self-imposed constraints and events that have spun out of control.

Already most of the residents of a small mountain village have emigrated. Because all of the remaining people know each other, most of the affairs are handled among themselves. After one of the local hunter dies after a fall from a deer stand, the policeman Georg Treichel and policewoman Martina Schober believe on a tragic accident. But then it turns out that one of the rungs of the ladder was manipulated, and everything points toward a murder.

After suffering a severe head injury on the job, criminal investigator Tommy Wehrschitz is being suspended – for his own good. In order to deal with the changes in his life he decides to go to southern Burgenland, to sell property he inherited from his estranged father. Barely arrived, Tommy is invited to see the circus, which is currently in the village, but the colorful spectacle is cut short when a flying knife misses its target and kills an audience member instead.

Katharina Wallner is the owner of a long-established business for film videos. After the will of her disinherited landlord Heinz Ortner she should now close the lovingly run shop. So far, she was able to withstand Ortner's harassment, but the dreamy old lady is annoyed at the end. Her sister Hannah, surprisingly returning from South America, encourages Katharina to do something about the homeowner. When Ortner lies dead in the stairwell the next morning, Katharina comes over a terrible suspicion.

Maja could hardly be happier. She loves her husband Konrad and their two children more than anything and things are also going well professionally, having recently taken up a promising position as a molecular biologist in a renowned clinic after completing her doctorate. But one day, a motorcycle accident involving her husband has serious consequences. After a minor operation on his leg went without a hitch, Konrad's condition deteriorates rapidly a little later. It soon transpires that he has been infected with dangerous germs in hospital. As the hospital treating him is Maja's new workplace, her boss Professor Adler, who would prefer to sweep the matter under the carpet, is not at all happy for her to investigate on her own. And she soon discovers some shocking facts.

Through his work at a morgue, an incarcerated young man trying to build a new life starts to come to terms with the crime he committed.

A serious car accident completely robs Maria of her memory. Husband Bruno angrily searches for the fugitive driver involved in the accident and discovers that Maria had secrets from him. When Maria wakes up from the coma, Bruno is overjoyed at first. The children Lucy and Joey also believe that family life will be as it was before. Maria, however, is indifferent to her husband and children. A strange man reveals himself to her as a lover. What is being played here?

A new collaboration between director Sigi Rothemund (Siggi Götz) and writer Erich Tomek.

25-year-old former model Steffi has everything that she considers necessary for a perfect future: a man who can support him financially, a beautiful home, and a pregnancy--albeit via sperm donation. Nobody's perfect, after all. But when she discovers that her husband is cheating on her, she is determined to find out more about the origins of her child. She is led to 26-year-old Tommi Gehrke's garden shed, where she finds her worst nightmare: the prototype of a total loser.

Archaic moments from the past 2,000 years, dealing with love, jealousy, betrayal, hatred, and war. At the center of each story is a man of action: someone who, based on their religious, ethical, moral, or personal convictions, stands up against the prevailing opinion, the dominant society, or a ruling political system.

A very skilful young architect from Berlin, Lea Winter, who has a promising career, is pregnant with Klaus Arnheim, her head of department, a long-time lover but married and father of a family. At the announcement of this unexpected pregnancy, of course, he only envisages abortion for Lea. However, the young woman hesitates. On the advice of her gynecologist, she decides to leave Ireland for a few days to think and make a decision without any pressure. She finds there a simple, authentic life and is confronted with another rhythm of life, with other values and with herself.

Power woman Carla Bergmann is a committed pastor with heart and mind. Thanks to her media-effective appearances, Carla has made a difference in the Third World and, after eventful years abroad, is now looking forward to her pastorate in Cologne. Here she finally wants to take care of her daughter Sarah, who is in a marital crisis. But nothing goes as planned: Sarah resists her domineering mother, and Carla's promised position is already occupied by someone else. The pastor is forced to take over a small church in Sauerland, where she has to start from scratch.

Jan Hinrichs is an experienced ship and salvage inspector. After the bankruptcy of his last employer, however, he is not above working as a simple diver. The widower has two children to support and soon a third eater is on board, as his daughter Lena is pregnant. The only problem is that Hinrichs is 55 and, in the eyes of the shipowners, too old for this job that requires bones and fitness. And so he pretends to be 10 years younger at a job interview. He falsifies his diving book and gets himself a fake passport. The world wants to be deceived. Now things are suddenly working out: Hinrichs does his job, he does it well and his boss is happy with him - for the time being.

A calm, balanced subway driver witnesses a woman throwing herself in front of his train. The memory of the event haunts him. The film depicts the effects of the trauma on the man, his psyche, his family and friends, and his own life. An intense drama about confronting death and questioning the meaning of life.

No synopsis available yet.