Lisa Bühl

In the late 1970's Horst follows his heart and decides to move from a suburb in Germany to glamorous New York City. A young, gay man with no money, no job and no knowledge of English, but a strong will. A will to built a new life in a completely different world, in which he hopes to feel free and more comfortable with his sexual orientation. On a warm spring day in May 1992 he dies in his New Yorker apartment from his struggle with AIDS . The only thing that’s left: videos, letters, photos and a few clothes. Plus, the most important thing: memories and stories of his family, friends and his former partner. Can love between partners, between a person and his family be strong enough to last longer than death? What does really stay after a person's gone? Told from a personal point of view, the film takes its audience on a journey to follow Horst's footsteps.

The Film Unruhr is based on a young girl named Maila, who enjoys spending most of her time in her own mind-palace. She passionately loves the element of water and always has a snow globe alongside her, which contains a wax-model of a mermaid. A present of her beloved, deceased father. Because of a car accident Maila and her mother end up at an abandoned Camping site at the shore of the river Ruhr. There Maila sees a man in a black coat, water-blue eyes, standing on the inner-shore of the river. He seems to be waiting just for her. Curiously Maila walks up to him. An old Woman, who lives there in a caravan for many years, observes her inconspicuously, while paying attention to Mailas mother. The young girl wants to get to know the man, that seems to come out of the river Ruhr, the river that her mermaid obviously would prefer rather than a small snow globe. Fascinated by his appearance she doesn't hear the many voices. Voices of children that come from the depths of the river.