Spring 1945: Eleven-year-old Felix lives with his mother Anna in Munich. His father Bernd, a well-known trumpeter, is at the front. When bombardments of the city do not stop, Anna and Felix flee to the countryside. They set up a new home on the farm of a deceased aunt.

Twelve-year-old Madison has set her mind on becoming as successful as her father Timo, a professional cyclist. Timo, who named his daughter after a discipline in track cycling, namely two-man team riding, often overtaxes Madison. Although she still has a year to go, she is scheduled to take part in the Federal German training camp this summer.

The brothers Mihai and Emil, Romanian-Germans living in Arad, have very little in common other than the concern for their sick father. Mihai, the elder seems to feel at ease in Ceaușescu’s Romania, where he works as a doctor and, although half-heartedly, as a spy for the state power.

Every day, Yakari the little Indian boy experiences many adventures with his friends Little Badger, Rainbow and the tribe’s dog, Droopy Ear. But Yakari wishes for nothing more than the friendship of Little Thunder, a wild pony which his tribe has been trying in vain to catch for a long time.

“Someone said happiness is just a matter of proper perspective” says 17-year-old Lea and lists the advantages of her life: “Who has an own chauffeur service already at my age? Who goes around with 20 liters of private oxygen?” Lea suffers from cystic fibrosis, an incurable metabolic disease that has affected her lungs.