In the winter of 1945/46, new teacher Hadubrant is tricked by Olly, the 14-year-old daughter of his landlady, into stealing a wild boar. It has fallen into Olly's trap, but as game is the property of the Soviet army, Hadubrant wants to put it to good use: school meals. But others in the village are also interested in the pig. The mayor wants it to fulfill his meat plan, the priest wants to swap it for coal to heat his church, the policeman wants to return it to its rightful owner, and some simply want to eat it. The pig keeps disappearing in mysterious ways. Hadubrant's commitment to his charitable cause finally earns him a delegation to the district town for "higher duties".

Moscow in the 1920s. A film about the pogroms in southern Russia is being made in a studio. The name of the notorious tsarist governor Muratov, also known as "The Beast", symbolizes the crimes of the time. During filming, an old, decrepit man comes forward who wants to be in the movie because of his resemblance to Muratov. Could it be possible that this man is the real Muratov? Everyone is so preoccupied with the realization of the material that this incident remains hidden. As artists, everyone has their own visions - which often bypass reality ...

Young construction worker Ralf Reider leaves his home village Katzsprung in the Rhön mountains during the "Berlin Initiative". In the capital, he wants to earn enough money in construction to build his own house for his wife and his child. But Ralf is an unconventional character who soon becomes an outsider because of his behaviour.