Sterben

Mother Lissy, son Tom and daughter Ellen Lunies may form a family, but their lives are so different that they no longer really have anything in common. Seventy-year-old Lissy is secretly relieved that her demented husband Gerd is admitted to a care home, but the relief is short-lived as her own health hollows out. Tom, a conductor, is working with his depressed friend, composer Bernard, on a piece of music entitled Sterben (Dying). But it is not going very well. Meanwhile, his ex Liv wants him to be surrogate father to her child. Sister Ellen, a dental hygienist, struggles with her drinking problem and all her inner demons, and then also starts a relationship with a married dentist. A dramatic event brings the family members back together.

Director Matthias Glasner tells this self-written story in five chapters, switching perspectives each time - an uncompromising drama about a family where lovelessness, coldness and bitterness have ruined relations. Awarded at the last Berlinale.