IFS Internationale Filmschule Köln GmbH

Sex is power, and Waseem, a Syrian gay-for-pay hustler seeking asylum in Cologne, wields it like a shield. Keeping his johns at an emotional arm’s length while satisfying their most carnal desires in order to eke out a living, he meets his match in Lars: a kind, affluent professional with a growing personal interest in Waseem. This gripping tale of transactional identity explores the tactical exchange of trust and intimacy in a partnership, and the divisions between immigrants and their host countries in contemporary Europe.

In 1938 an airfield was built at the northeastern-most end of America, the descent went slowly but incessantly through the Cold War. This is the story of how its inhabitants gradually moved away from the great world stage and had to reinvent themselves as well as their home town.

At a Babelsberg studio, two German actors try to outdo each other with their Hollywood experiences. At a chic Düsseldorf café, two expatriate French women envy each other’s respective life. At a construction site somewhere in North Rhine-Westphalia, a foreman informs the supervising archaeologist that he as ordered the concrete without her approval. In a trendy Café in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, a recently departed meets a friend of his ex to obtain a box with things he’d left behind. A Dutch business consultant desperately tries to sell his inflated services to a Bulgarian arms contractor at Brussels Airport. On a rooftop in the Belgian Eifel, the owner and the future heir of a family workshop quietly discuss the recent passing of the family’s grandfather.

Thursday morning, Jerusalem. Nira goes to work. Ahmad in London does the same, Ralf in Cologne and a priest in Prague too. Matija, Croat, goes to work as well. Ok, he doesn't, but he acts as if he does. Ahmad is taking his routine red bus journey. Out-of-breath young man comes in and interrupts it. Schoolteacher Nira is also interrupted - her pupil jumps out and performs a love rap song he wrote for her. The priest in Prague doesn't feel like singing today, he is in the mood for (over)sleeping instead. Someone falls asleep, someone else - Ralf - falls in love. All five mentioned above are listening to the top-news about the disappearance of bees. And trying their best, each one of them in his or her own 'hive': Zagreb, Jerusalem, London, Cologne, Prague...

Berlin, 1934. Many men are forced to live their hidden homosexuality. Erich, a photographer, has an appointment in his photo studio with Wolfgang, a Nazi soldier, with whom he shares a loving, tumultuous, and passionate relationship. For both of them, this should not be a problem, but appearances deceive.

Germany, 1969: Retreating to his change room after a rather fabulous gig, British guitar- and song-writing-god Diesel Wilmington encounters Helmuth: Diesel-fan by trade. The unlikely pair - despite the barrier of language - engages in a rather odd conversation about the proper reading and origin of Diesel’s ingenious lines. It begins to dawn on Helmuth that his imaginations may have been somewhat highly-strung, as a stranger walks in; exposing the original mastermind as an overambitious double. What does this make of the autograph Helmuth was so eager to get?

A nearly finished construction site. The wiring is completed, the walls are painted, the final inspections are being done. The construction manager Thomas Zetzsche is proud of his achievement. The prestigious building he created is a modern dream come true. But suddenly that dream begins to crumble as more and more defects appear. Cables run into dead ends, the fire protection malfunctions and entire rooms go missing. Desperately Thomas is trying to fix the building until he finally accepts that the opening date has to be postponed. Now he must confront his own responsibility in this faulty system and draw the necessary consequences

On his first day as an apprentice, Erik is assigned to a strange journeyman called Ludger. Together they drive to a mysterious power box in the middle of nowhere, but the tasks that Ludger keeps giving Erik seem to be a waste of time. In his ongoing fight for acceptance, the apprentice makes a far-reaching mistake.

This anti-coming-of-age film follows Generation Y characters as they chase the desire for radical self-realisation.

A young man’s obsession with the half-naked figure of Jesus Christ leads him down a dangerous path of self-harm and masochistic tendencies

Two people, strangers to each other, in a confined space: Karl, a loner by choice, suddenly is faced with having to accommodate young and outgoing Mo in his job as street cleaner. Normally it would just be a case of the young trainee working under the supervision of the experienced senior, however Karl is not yet prepared to hand over any of his responsibility.

A newcomer to a mental health unit wants to help his fellow patients. But instead of seeking healing through self-recognition, he builds castles in the air and thus becomes a great threat to his fellow sufferers and ultimately to himself.

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.