SYNOPSIS
Niko (Tom Schilling) is in his late twenties and dropped out of university some time ago. Since then, he has been living day to day, drifting sleeplessly through the streets of his city and wondering about the people around him. He observes them with quiet curiosity as they go about their daily lives - until this turbulent day: his girlfriend breaks up with him, his father cuts him off and a psychologist diagnoses him with "emotional imbalance".

ABOUT
Jan-Ole Gerster was born in Hagen, Germany, in 1978. After completing training as a paramedic during his civilian service, he moved to Berlin in 2000, did an internship at the production company X-Filme and then worked as Wolfgang Becker's personal assistant on GOODBYE LENIN (2003). In 2003, Gerster began studying directing at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. In 2010, he began work on his graduation film, the tragicomedy A COFFEE IN BERLIN. The film premiered at the Munich Film Festival in July 2012. At the 2013 German Film Awards, A COFFEE IN BERLIN was awarded six Lolas, including the Golden Lola for Best Film. In October 2017, LARA, about the difficult relationship between a domineering mother (Corinna Harfouch) and her adult son (Tom Schilling), was released for the first time. LARA premiered at the 2019 Munich Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Award and the New German Cinema Award for Best Director. At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, it won the Special Jury Prize.