1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.

After an elaborate application process, Empress Elisabeth of Austria hires Countess Irma as her new lady-in-waiting and takes her to her summer residence on Corfu. As the two women become closer there, this soon leads to tensions back in Vienna.

Martin Behrens is a Middle East expert for the German intelligence agency BND. He obtains information leading to a U.S. drone strike on a wanted terrorist in Zahiristan. A few days later, there's a terrorist attack on a restaurant – the video claiming responsibility calls it payback for the drone strike. Freelance journalist Aurice, with whom Martin was having an affair, is among the victims – she was investigating corruption at the heart of the BND. Martin soon has to realize that in a world where big corporations profit from arms deals as well as from homeland security contracts, good and evil are sometimes hard to tell apart.

Violent youth gangs and a police force way out of its depth. When a police operation goes awry and two policemen die, the powder keg threatens to ignite as the SWAT team knows only one goal: revenge - irrespective of the law.

Frederick Schopner, a young management consultant, has been invited to participate in a special kind of team-building event. He and his colleagues will be chased across an outdoor obstacle course while being assessed on leadership qualities and their capacity for teamwork via video surveillance. Special highlight: the company has hired two over-the-hill actors to kidnap the consultants with unloaded weapons, keep them hostage, and to demand a high ransom from the company. A realistic role play with fun factor! But things don't go according to plan: the actors find the make-believe scenario so convincing that they decide to put the plan into action for real, using real weapons. Meanwhile, Human Resources manager Vanessa is observing what's happening via video surveillance and has to find a way to keep the hostage situation from escalating…

In the summer of 1976, a shared family yard becomes the setting, as the adults bicker over selling the garden and the kids are free to explore the mysterious neighboring lot. Then they hear about a girl that has disappeared...

Kevin is new in youth prison. Due to over-occupancy he has to share a cell with Tommy, Andy and Marc. A partnership of convenience in a system where only the strong prevail and which is dominated by violence and latent aggression. Oppression and beatings are a daily occurence. It is hard for Kevin to establish himself. Especially Marc and Andy are after him. He's afraid of not sticking it out. Only Tommy gives him an amicable advice: In this system, you're either a victim or a culprit. If he doesn't want to be a loser anymore, he has to start fighting... A piece of advice that will trigger most dire consequences

Kerstin is in great pain. Her daughter Juliane wants to help her die, but the law forbids it. Jessica Krummacher’s second feature describes the most important of events via tiny details that stay with us and get under our skin.

At first glance, Leyla and Tristan are a happy couple. When they travel to a mysterious island, a game of identities begins that changes everything – their perception, their sexuality, their entire selves. But not only their relationship threatens to break up. They may even never be who they used to be again…

James Larkin White, an American who travels through Switzerland, is mistaken for Anatol Stiller, a sculptor who disappeared seven years earlier and is wanted for his involvement in a dubious political affair.

Stefan Gabriel is an active father always looking at life positively. While he tries to give back to society, his daughters Jessica (12) and Sabrina (15) struggle with their own problems. Jessica is often mistaken for a boy and has to deal with her many ticks. She would happily swap places with Sabrina, who, despite her illness, appears to have her life completely under control. But the more Sabrina’s health worsens, the worse Jessica’s ticks become. The girls need a plan and fast. They come across a special ritual in an old book, which could be their rescue. But the girls first have to find a boy to sleep with Sabrina. They don’t have much time left and Jessica puts all she has got into implementing the life-saving plan, no matter how crazy it may be.

Amidst the preparations for her 35th wedding anniversary, Meredith is surprised by the discovery that she is HIV-positive. Only her husband André could have been the carrier of the virus.