Spanning 18 years in an Iranian women's prison, this follows two women: the new prison warden, a tough as nails devout Muslim who has served in the army on the Iraqi front, and a young midwife, Mitra, who is serving her sentence for killing her mother's abusive husband. In the early years, Mitra is repeatedly punished as the warden tries to break her. This includes punishment for delivering a baby in the prison cell while all of the prison staff has taken shelter during an Iraqi bombing. The warden's attitude starts to change after 8 years, when Mitra tries to protect a new inmate from rape at the hands of her older cellmates. When the baby comes back in 1991 as a 17 year old delinquent, Sepideh, the warden respects Mitra enough to protect the girl.
As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey.
Talented 20-year-old Lolita dreams of a singing career. But her self-esteem is low due to her weight problem and her narcissistic father, Étienne, a literary star with scant interest in his daughter's life.
After fleeing to the West in 1961, peaceful times were supposed to begin for the Striesows. But Irene longs for the familiar GDR, fears her husband Dieter's supposed "second wives" and expects the Third World War every day.
Tilo is an Indian shopkeeper in America with an ability to see the future and a magical connection to powerful spices, which she uses to help her customers satisfy their various needs and desires.
A player in a famous orchestra finds sexual experiences with a Russian opera singer, which he enjoys much because his wife has just left due to the fact that he has purchased a porno movie.
Cadillac Clown follows two hit men who travel the back roads of the country; a murderous clown who violently stabs his victims to death; a pair of police officers whose investigation is stalled; and two youngsters who stand in front of a convenience store and provoke passers-by with derogatory remarks.
When his father caught his 12-year-old son masturbating over a pornographic magazine, he does not punish him but he states: "If you do this fifty times - you will die".
Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in this gala New Year's Eve performance, organized to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's death.
