In their early twenties, five friends from the small town of Teltow write down where they see each other in the future. Twelve years later they are sitting in a good mood in the garden on a warm summer evening, pouring schnapps and digging up old notes. Helena wanted to be an artist, today she works as a primary school teacher. Mel and Emre wanted to stay together forever, today they have a child together, but the relationship is over. Maik wanted to heat through New York with the Lamborghini, today the father of two works as a gardener and is under construction stress. Nothing turned out the way they wanted it to be, but that’s okay. Annika is the only one who refuses to read, because she would reveal a secret.
The series we portrays a clique in their thirties during an idyllic summer in the Brandenburg countryside. The friends have made a career or not, have started a family or have failed in their relationships, they buy and renovate houses or cannot afford it – but above all they confront themselves with life issues. “Who were we then, who are we now and what does the past say about us today?” It says in the first episode.
Beautiful evening light in the garden is the perfect setting for making love, struggling and celebrating
In order to address viewers around the age of thirty, ZDF Neo has not only developed a series for the target group, but also one with them. They asked: “What do you want to see and how do you want to see it?”, Says Nadine Bilke, the director of ZDF Neo. The result is now in the ZDF media library. 24 episodes of 20 minutes each has been commissioned by the broadcaster, the first twelve will be broadcast this autumn and focus on the characters Helena and Annika. In this first season, the seven authors of the series show a generation between the big city, which offers so many possibilities, and the down-to-earth country life. But above all, they tell a sensitive and complex love story.
Helena and Annika were best friends during school. What the others didn’t know: The two were more than that – they were a couple. But Helena did not dare to stand by it. Since then, the two have had no contact. Annika is now back in Teltow. The network of relationships between the casual Helena, who has just bought a neat house with her boyfriend, and Karriero Annika, who restlessly moves from one major project abroad to the next, develops a real one through the play of the convincing leading actresses Katharina Nesytowa and Eva Maria Jost Suction effect.
The brevity of the episodes make this summer’s back and forth seem light and dynamic. Some pictures are so nicely lit that it scratches the kitsch – for example, when the clique hops through the bright evening light in the decorated garden to “All good things are we” by the indie pop singer Antje Schomaker. But the two lovable female characters in this summer fairy tale are still very much watched while they love, quarrel and celebrate.
we, ZDF Neo, the first four episodes this Friday at 8:15 p.m. Five of the 24 episodes can already be seen in the ZDF media library, and one more is added every week.