Young people living in a children’s home in Mecklenburg talk about their unstable home situations and domestic violence. Many of them have alcoholic parents and some are in danger of going down the same path. They speak openly about the past and their hopes for a better life. The documentary follows the young men and women within the group and in search of personal space. A party to start the summer holidays marks not only the end of the school year – it also means that an entire class will be taking leave of the home forever.
Andrees’ graduation project approaches the perky 14-year-old Jacki mainly through her social environment: the stressed patchwork family mother, the solitary long-distance truck driver father, the eclectic neighbourhood. The closer the film gets to its protagonists, the freer the movements of the camera become, gliding through a studio as if in a trance or flying over the nocturnal motorway as if over a UFO landing strip.
In 1980, Wolfgang E. Struck, artistic director of the Berlin Friedrichstadt-Palast, wistfully considers the imminent demolition of his house due to structural deficiencies. Employees rhapsodise about working at this historical stage, where international stars like Louis Armstrong and Juliette Gréco performed. Nearby, construction of the new Friedrichstadt-Palast is starting.
