In 1986, Anna from West Germany and the GDR citizen Philipp meet at a church youth exchange in East Berlin. It's love at first sight. But it is also an impossible love, because between them stands the wall.

Kerstin floats stoically across the Mecklenburg Lake District in her red GDR kayak. Aimlessly, between tourism and dreariness, she glides over the water for days, striving to remain alone. The many rivers and lakes are familiar to her. But where does Kerstin come from? What is she fleeing from? Who is pursuing her? The evenness of this journey breaks when Alima appears, finally asking the paddling loner the right questions.

Two men feel desire when meeting in the men's room.

When Mia runs into her former schoolmate Steffen and his son at the grocery store, she is pleasantly surprised by the unexpected encounter. But the joy quickly turns into unease as Mia and her daughter slowly realize that Steffen's supposed son might be in danger.

Shortly after her last birthday, 90-year-old Stella Flanders begins seeing her late husband. In her increasing madness, she tells her unborn grandchildren the darkest and most beautiful secrets of her life on the island.

West Berlin, 1967: Shirin’s husband is desperate for her to make a good impression on his new German work colleagues, but protests against the Shah of Iran’s visit to Berlin and a misunderstanding about a missing ring cast suspicion on the Middle Easterners, sending the party spiralling into disaster.