Horst Schlämmer sucht das Glück (2026)

Horst Schlämmer is deputy editor-in-chief of a fictional local newspaper, the Grevenbroicher Tagblatt. One evening, it dawns on him that people have lost their happiness now that the COVID pandemic is over. He makes a bet with Günni, the former proprietor of the popular regulars’ bar “Der Wilddieb”: if Schlämmer manages to make a film about people who have found happiness, Günni must turn the laundromat he now runs back into a bar. Schlämmer sets off on a trip around Germany with Anna, his online intern, as the camera operator: from southern Germany to Sylt and from Berlin to Büsum—hitchhiking, aboard a shrimp trawler, or using rail replacement buses. Amid various episodes involving laughter yoga, an S&M studio, and a party for the rich, Schlämmer also visits real-life celebrities, including Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder at the State Chancellery, Cologne Archbishop and Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, whose diocese has been beset by abuse scandals, and the “real” Hape Kerkeling. Between scenes, clips from fictional films starring Schlämmer’s (equally fictional) favorite actress, Gabi Wampel, are shown repeatedly, with Hape Kerkeling appearing in further roles.