Schneider & Groos

In a time of social change and unrest, war and poverty, a young working class woman, Maria, wins a camera in a lottery. The decision to keep it alters her whole life.

The story of two boys coming from different social backgrounds: the sensitive loner Joschi who had to move with his father from a better district after his parents’ separation, and Niko, full of bravado, whose family came to Germany from Kazakhstan, staying out of the way of his drunken father. In the neighborhood cinema, the two friends secretly idolize the figure of a vampire up on the screen. In a magical twist, Count Karpatovicz steps out of the screen to help the boys realize Niko’s sister Tatjana’s dream of escaping from the confines of the rundown tenement to become a boxing champion.

Nina, Kerstin, Simon, Stefano and Flurin are journeymen doing their time on the road after completing their apprenticeships. They all take different paths and do it in their own way. They follow the unwritten rules of the tradition of their craft, but also their own inner compass.