Bella Casa (2014)

Bella Jung now lives alone with her young godson, Tom, in Berlin-Kreuzberg. She had found an apartment for her father, and her daughter Lena has also moved into a shared flat and is working as an editorial intern at a publishing house. Her ex-husband Martin has moved back to Berlin from Munich, but he has his own apartment too. One day, Bella has to watch as her father Friedrich’s senior citizens’ shared apartment is cleared out because the passionate musician invested money in new instruments instead of paying rent on the city-owned apartment. At the responsible district office, Bella learns that the entire building is to be sold and renovated, and that the rent would almost double. This also affects Bella’s massage salon, since she rents the ground floor of the building. Bella does everything she can to prevent this and wants to fight for herself and the other tenants. Desperately searching for constructive ideas, she hopes Lena might write an article about the situation and get it published through the publishing house. When Lena refuses, however, she shows her mother how to use a computer and the internet instead. First, Bella writes an email to the responsible district office. She is on the verge of her first victory there, but then her father occupies the apartment that had been cleared out and ruins her success. The occupation brings the issue to the attention of the press, and Lena is now able to get involved after all. Martin also tries to do his part by speaking with the district councillor, whom he knows personally from earlier days. But nothing brings the breakthrough they had hoped for, and the first tenants give in and move out. Bella had actually planned to go on vacation with Tom, but instead she now fights the building sale with all her might. There is barely enough time left for her and Tom, and her father seems to be the only one who understands her problems. Meanwhile, Friedrich’s trumpet playing proves to be his undoing and, just as the doctor had predicted, music takes him to his grave. Bella’s father does not survive another stroke. Martin urges his ex-wife to end the campaign and put her energy into looking after herself. Bella refuses to listen and only realizes she is overwhelmed when she collapses. She gives up, even though she has organized a demonstration for the next day. She admits to the tenants that she overestimated herself. In an online video message, she urges everyone to keep fighting, to work together more, and not to do so much on their own as she did. She regrets this mistake and now takes the long-awaited vacation with Tom. She has no idea that her video has attracted so much attention, and that the district administration is considering what it can do to satisfy public opinion and its voters.