Ludwig Schütze

When six year old Olivia is diagnosed with the Wilms tumor in her kidney, the doctors suggest an immediate operation and chemotherapy. Healing chances would be 95%, but when her parents learn how other children suffer from the procedure, they're terrified and refuse to expose their daughter to such a torture. Instead they consult faith healer Hamer, who claims to be able to heal cancer without drugs. When the youth welfare office attempts to force them to have Olivia medicated properly, the family flees from Germany. So Olivia's condition worsens, and a great press campaign is started to change the parent's mind...

After rehab, Manfred Burger seems to have got his alcohol addiction under control and is trying to reorganize his life. Although he is now sober, he soon realizes that society cannot cope with his illness: His relationship with his wife Eva is on its last legs and he loses his job. Nobody seems to understand Burger and his illness. As his life continues to go off track, the bottle soon becomes his daily companion again...