Three young men, all of them outsiders, become friends: Richy (16), who is teased at school, Tim (16), who has moved from the west with his parents and has difficulties getting used to his new life, and Marco (18), who has problems coping with his parents' separation and the rejection he experiences from his father. Richy admires the strong and uncommunicative Marco.

GDR, January 1990. After his ouster and the fall of the wall, dictator Erich Honecker and his wife Margot find themselves virtually homeless. Only Protestant pastor Uwe Holmer and his family, who, like many others, have suffered under his tyrannical regime, offer them refuge.

Bettina and Martin get stuck in a bank during New Year's Eve and attempt to get help.

Young 19-year-old Hajo wrestles with caring for his 6-month-old son and finding both work and his role of being a father.

Peggy Rosinski lives in a shabby neighborhood in Frankfurt/Oder. The patchwork mom has three children, but only one of them is from her current husband Torben. She also works two different jobs to make ends meet and reduce her mountain of debt. Meanwhile, the eldest of the Rosinskis, Angelique, only hangs out with her new boyfriend Devid and the youngest, Finn, is teased by his classmates because of his family's poverty. When Torben loses his job, Peggy is at a loss. Her mother Angelika knows what to do, as she has been earning a few cents for years through illegal activities. But does Peggy really want to get involved in this kind of business?

Architect Alexander Beck has just won an architecture prize. He wants to modernize GDR building blocks in Thuringia. Alex travels to the heart of rural Eastern Germany where he grew up and where people remember him as Alex from the Free German Youth, a pro-GDR youth organization.

Heinrich wishes to conquer death through love, and when he meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance, she expresses interest in a suicide pact when she learns she has a terminal illness.

An aged tailor recalls his life as the schoolteacher of a small village in Northern Germany that was struck by a series of strange events in the year leading up to WWI.

Philipp Halbe can not read and write. He avoids life, works in a bar at night and does not engage in serious relationships. One day when his daughter Lily, whose mother died in a car accident, is about to die, he has to face the challenges of life and fight for custody. The aim of the film is to raise awareness of the problem of illiteracy and thus to contribute to the de-tabulation.

Hanni works around the clock as a cleaning lady. She has to because her husband, whom she loves, has not exactly shown himself to be a support financially. They also have their son Viktor. One day Hanni witnesses an attempted murder on an old lady. The killer now has an involuntary confidante and must eliminate her. But it doesn't come to that because Hanni uses her cleaning agents at the right moment, with her presence of mind. The killer falls unhappy and falls into a coma.