Marion, also known as Nippelsuse, leaves her boyfriend and has to find new accommodation as well as a job. She decides to become a private detective. She immediately gets a case to follow someone's unfaithful girlfriend.

Four exchange students meet in Berlin 20 years after graduating but picking up where they left off doesn't turn out to be as easy as they had hoped.

Sawdust Tales is a whimsical and timeless parable on survival in hard times and the force of a first love against all odds. In a timeless no-mans land scarred by social decay and imminent war, a circus troupe awaits the arrival of the mysterious Rupert who is to deliver them from danger into a better world. The old and wise tightrope master keeps a watchful, loving eye on his young apprentice who, to his concern, could be drafted into the army at any moment. To make matters worse, the boy falls in love with a mermaid...