Content

The cold night of New Year’s Eve in the city provides the time frame for five stories told in parallel.

Quick-witted GLORIA, whom her husband has replaced with a “younger model”, dreads having to spend New Year’s Eve on her own. She meets taxi driver KASPAR, who is also an expert in acute love disasters. They have philosophical discussions, first only with the outlook of “a free view of the fireworks”, but then they realize that life is too short not to celebrate this encounter between strangers with all their senses.

PASCAL’s favourite pastime is assembling construction kits: galleys, yachts, castles. He is not very fond of other human beings. When he has to look after KARIN, a neighbour’s young daughter, his world is suddenly threatened by Barbie dialogues and razor-sharp questions. He has to get rid of her, no question about it. But how?

ZOE abandons her mother, who suffers from alcoholism. She wants to go to a cool party with her friend SABRINA. At the entrance, she meets OSKAR who comes from a good family. The trio make their way to the trouble-free villa of Oscar’s father. Zoe prefers to keep silent about her family. She adapts to her friend, gets entangled in a web of lies and almost misses the love of her life because of it.

HERBERT and ANNE-MARIE, a retired couple are never up to much, not even on New Year’s Eve. But then their dog BEPPO, terrified by all the bangers, runs away. Far away from their beloved wall-to-wall cupboard, they embark on a nocturnal odyssey through the city streets. This puts their safe marriage to the test.

NINA and OLIVER, two policemen, patrol the streets. They tell each other all the things they have seen in their job. But their experience of life is still rather limited. The night will unravel what they have missed in their personal lives so far.

On New Year’s Eve, all these characters get into situations that could change their lives. Will they stick to their well-trodden path? Or will they take a chance?

plakat Feature, CH 2008, 90′, S16mm, Dolby SRD

Director Christoph Schaub

Original version: Swiss german
DUB versions: French, Italian