Nah am Wasser

It is the time of the 1994 World Cup. Günther Schmidt has no friends. Dull he pursues his profession, drinks his beer in the evening in the pub. The feeling of success he only experiences on the weekend when he wins in the model boat competition. The trophies then decorate his small, always dark ground floor apartment in Berlin-Neukölln. His membership with the Republicans shows him as a racist skewer, and he sinks ever deeper into inertia and dullness. When one day Franziska comes to the pub where he is watching a World Cup broadcast, it seems to have come to an end with his loneliness. Günther Schmidt, awakened by the superiority of feelings, wants to prove itself - wants to prove to her - that he is someone...

Directed by Marc Ottiker, Nah am Wasser leans on a strong ensemble — Sven Pippig, Barbara Philipp, Christoph Krix — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1994.