Ironies abound in this extremely sad melodrama about Elif, a Turkish immigrant in Germany who has been sent to prison for murdering her abusive husband. At the time of her imprisonment, she has never ventured outside the Turkish community, and even there has had no friends because of the demands her husband placed on her. She speaks no German. Now, in a place which most people find to be hell on earth, she gains a never-before known taste of freedom among these strangers, who don't even speak her own language. Unfortunately, as a "guest worker," she is horrified to discover that she is soon to be transferred to the horrific prisons of Turkey and will stand trial there for her crime, which will be much less understandingly dealt with in her home country than it would have been in Germany. The false paradise she must say goodbye to is her German prison.

After his training as a policeman, the young, shy Köppe is transferred to a northern German town. Unfortunately, in an area where fox and rabbit say goodnight, there is little for a lawman to do. So Köppe kills time with the search for mysterious cow murderers, flirting with two attractive women and befriending a likeable petty crook.

It's the 24th of December: The emergency department of a district hospital is preparing for a turbulent night: head physician Professor Singer, who has lost his wife and is even more involved in the work, and the surgeon Hannah Cornelsen, who talks about the work can forget that she and her husband have dwelt apart. On Christmas Eve, the hospital will become a microcosm in which a wide variety of people and destinies will meet - and for everyone, life will be in a completely different light next morning.

Berlin photographer Julia Sandberg has fallen in love with the charming adventurer Percy van der Walt, who has an extremely unusual job. Percy is diving for diamonds off the coast of the South African port town of Port Sheldon. Julia wants to record this exciting work, in which he penetrates to the bottom of the sea every day at great risk, in a photo book for which she has already found a publisher. But no sooner has she followed the man of her life than Percy shows a completely different side of himself: he is uncharming, selfish and at times treats her like air. He also refuses to take Julia on his boat to take photos of the diamond divers' work.

The son of a photographer chasing his dream of life in a deserted harbor area is reminded by a chance acquaintance that he loves the same type of woman as his father. When the New Yorker discovers her father's work, she begins to tell new stories with the old pictures, while the man is reminded of the past reality.