Johannes Hegemann

In the heart of a botanical garden in a medieval university town in Germany stands a majestic ginkgo tree. This silent witness has observed over a century the quiet rhythms of transformation across three human lives. At three distinct moments across the 20th and 21st centuries, these people — each carrying their own questions and inner struggles — inevitably find themselves drawn into the presence of this tree, full of mystery and meaning.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor at Auschwitz, escapes to South America to rebuild his life in hiding. Through the eyes of his son who finds him again, Mengele is confronted with a past he can no longer ignore. From Buenos Aires to Paraguay via Brazil, the man who became known as “The Angel of Death” will organize his methodical disappearance to avoid any form of trial.

In Berlin 1942, Hilde is a member of an anti-Nazi group. She falls in love with another member, Hans. The two spend a summer together until they get caught by the Gestapo and Hilde is imprisoned, eight months pregnant.

Based upon the true story of Ranuccio Bandinelli, an antifascist Archaeology and History of Art teacher who sought to steer clear of politics but who found himself appointed, ex-officio, as Hitler and Mussolini’s official guide during their visit to Rome and Florence.

Chronicles the fate of Frieda Keller, a young seamstress in St. Gallen who, in 1904, is accused of murdering her 5-year-old son Ernstli.

Springe, a bourgeois little town in Lower Saxony in the 1970s and 80s. Evelin is caught between shame, worry, and social pressure due to the otherness of her son Oliver, who ultimately escapes to the Kiez quarter of Hamburg. Thanks to a big heart, an irrepressible sense of humour, and the ability to get up every time he’s down, Oliver manages the transformation to Olivia Jones, drag icon, entertainer, and Kiez restaurateur.

Two couples meet on a deserted beach. Politeness soon turns into an emotional and physical striptease.