Fünf Sterne

With her camera in tow, filmmaker Annekatrin Hendel settles into a hotel by the sea for four weeks; with her is her old friend Ines Rastig who, after her divorce and alimony battle, is now homeless. Room service may deliver fresh fruit every day, but it's the moment of truth for these two women as they humorously and unsparingly scrutinise practical problems after the end of a long marriage. When they first met, Ines was a singer, painter and a photographer. But she has spent the past twelve years being a home keeper and looking after the children. The internet connects her to the world once more. Virtual communication via Facebook and an exclusively digital relationship become the lifelines in her suddenly quiet artist's life. But then, a diagnosis overshadows everything else. After Vaterlandsverräter and Anderson director Annekatrin Hendel turns her attentions to yet another East Berlin biography. A gentle yet at the same time brutally honest film about the friendship between two women taking stock of their lives, between illness and Facebook, divorce and online love. (Berlinale)