Departures Film

Since early childhood Peter has been obsessed with the world of puppets, but his greater obsession is with a real girl, Lisa. He crafts his perfect woman out of her. But Lisa isn't a docile marionette. She's a living human being and she rebels against her creator. Based on the critically-acclaimed, brilliant and poignant novel by one of the best contemporary Russian writers, Dina Rubina, "Petrushka Syndrome" is a multidimensional metaphor, where a sense of duality pervades everything. People and dolls, life and art, the Creator and the creation depend on one another. And where does one draw the line between them?

In the 1980s, Anna, a Czech sprinter, starts training for the Olympics. After she collapses during training, she learns she is being given steroids and decides to stop using them until her mother helps the coaches give them to her.

Christian, a reclusive young man from Leipzig, gets a job working the night shift at a big-box store. He's trained to stocks goods and operate a forklift by Bruno, a wistful former truck driver, who introduces Christian to a colorful group of overnight workers, including Marion, with whom Christian develops a troubled infatuation.

A former East German boxing champion reduced to working as a bouncer and debt collector is forced to reflect on his life when he is diagnosed with a fatal disease.

There are more than 300 Bach choirs and Bach ensembles worldwide, most of which are made up of amateurs. For many, their lives are inextricably linked with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. What do people seek and find in his music? What connects them across continents? What fascination lies in the music of the famous German composer, which manages to transcend borders, cultures, religions and centuries? The film embarks on a journey through six continents to meet amateur musicians and singers who have made Bach their "centerpiece".

A young man works for a chauffeur company and is given the job of driving the favorite daughter of a Qatari prince who is to undergo an operation in Germany. He and the open-hearted woman grow closer, but then the patriarch's health causes their planned wedding to be brought forward.

In the heart of Istanbul's prison, Zakir controls the letters prisoners receive. His average day is spent between the censorship office, his colleagues and his evening writing class. For a writing assignment, he steals a photo from one of the letters, in which appears Selma, an inmate's wife. More than an inspiration, she becomes an obsession for Zakir. He observes her, makes up stories, and imagines the worst to the extent that he puts himself at great risk.

As a diplomat, Andrei Sannikov was instrumental in Belarus' nuclear disarmament in the 1990s. Under dictator Lukashenko, he resigned from the civil service and began the fight for a democratic Belarus, which cost the lives of companions and landed him in prison for a time.

To save his deathly ill dog, the unemployed Rolf bets the little money that he has on a horse and hopes for the best. Sometimes even outsiders get a chance.