Branko Samarovski

Matthias is a master of pretense, from cultured boyfriend to perfect son or marital coach. He makes a career of being someone else. The real challenge begins when he has to be himself.

Rural policewoman Andrea wants to end her marriage and become a detective inspector in the city. After a birthday party, her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car. In a state of shock, Andrea commits a hit-and-run.

1960's Siegheilkirchen, a small town in the Austrian hinterland is steeped in reactionary and ultra-Catholic attitudes. The son of a hard-working innkeeper and his wife, called Snotty Boy by all and sundry, is at odds with the narrow-minded confines of his home town. But his unstoppable talent for drawing gives him an outlet for his discontent.

The Graz chief investigator Sascha Bergmann and his colleague Eva Merz from the Spusi try to combine the official with the romantic, but unfortunately a routine case in the tranquil East Styrian hill country unexpectedly degenerates into work: What initially looks like the suicide of a drunk turns out to be poorly disguised murder! This in turn calls Bergmann's partner Sandra Mohr onto the scene, who puts herself in danger in her investigative zeal.

In the dark middle ages, young unruly Goldmund is sent to a monastery by his father to atone for the sins of his mother, who abandoned them. There, he meets Narcissus, a brilliant, scholarly novice who is introverted and aloof. A unique and deep life-long friendship is born. Narcissus chooses to remain detached from the world in prayer and meditation. Goldmund, passionate, sensual and impulsive, runs away from the monastery to live a picaresque wanderer’s life, his amorous and artistic adventures leading him to discover the extremes of both ecstasy and pain. Several thrilling years pass until one day these friends cross paths again...

Siblings Mareike, Dietrich and Felicitas Reber can hardly believe their eyes when, after an absence of 50 years, their father Xaver, who was thought to have disappeared in Argentina, suddenly turns up on their doorstep - penniless, without a pension or health insurance and with nothing but his toothbrush in his luggage. Attempts to drop him off at the social welfare office, in a retirement home or at a highway service station fail - and so, one by one, the hard-hitting Xaver wanders through all the apartments, causing quite a stir in the families, partnerships and work of his children. It turns out that the three siblings are also in a bit of a mess, and it doesn't take long for them to realize that their freewheeling father isn't their biggest problem...

Caroline Binder has a nice home, a working marriage, and a chronically-ill heart. Heart specialist Paul Hoffmann promises his patient healing through a new surgical method and keeps his promise. But Caroline cannot do with her new life, because the rhythm of this has been determined by her sick heart for the past 20 years. She feels betrayed about her identity and starts to look at how and why life is worth living.

Svea and Peter are now parents of a daughter. Svea was elected mayor of the neighboring community of Klamm and, as such, fights for the interests of the mountain farmers. With Munich-based conservation expert Martin Gollan and her assistant Igor, Svea develops an alternative concept for the national park. Joseph, however, ensures that Peter, as chief veterinarian, stabs her in the back at a hearing. Peter has had enough; he's tired of being manipulated by his father again and is ready to return to Stralsund with his daughter Josefine and Svea.

Svea Classen and Peter Pirnegger are happily married in Stralsund. They are married in a civil ceremony, and now that Svea is pregnant, they plan to have a church wedding in Peter's hometown, the Alpine village of St. Josef. Peter's parents, Inge and Joseph Pirnegger, the hotelier and mayor of St. Josef, live there. Svea can't imagine a church wedding in the Austrian mountains. After some hesitation, however, she agrees to one anyway. Joseph plans to keep them in the village long-term. Peter receives an offer to become chief veterinarian in the national park planned there—a dream come true for Peter.

A German communist wrongly accused and sent to a labour camp has to keep her past life hidden for the sake of her and her family’s freedom.