Decades ago, they were stranded in St. Pauli, fleeing the narrow confines of the petty bourgeoisie in search of work and a different, more unconventional life. They made their way through life as dancers or strippers, landlords or barmaids, sailors or pimps. During the day, they meet in their favorite pubs, the "Hong Kong" or the "Kaffeepause", to reminisce about earlier times.
True love never dies, the loving heart never stops beating ... for Kerstin’s ex Thomas, who she still hopes will come back some day. Instead of Thomas, her mother Charlotte shows up at her door, mid-50s and freshly single again, too. Charlotte moves in with Kerstin and her flatmates, one of who shows her how to use a modern dating app to meet new men. As mom starts dating again, her daughter refuses to let digital reality intrude on her romantic daydreams.
This documentary film portrays five captains. It shows their everyday life on board, and how they fulfill their duties and make decisions. But it goes far beyond: Viewers get to know the captains as people with values, as human beings that also deal with topics such as family and home. The captains' stories tell a lot more than about life at sea. The narrative style is documentary in the classical sense: It is only the captains who speak, there is no voiceover. Their own words and the pictures let viewers gain a very close insight into the captains' lives. Hamburg, the German port known as "gate to the world", creates the cinematic parenthesis of this documentary. All captains portrayed have a close relation to Hamburg - they live or work there or come to Hamburg with their ships every now and then.
