Zaun an Zaun (2017)

Thirty years ago, Kenan Ataman, a Turk, immigrated to Germany. By now, however, he is more German than many Germans and, especially since his wife’s death, has become a meticulous petit bourgeois. Fond of order and obsessive about cleaning, he will not tolerate a speck of dust in his half of the semi-detached house, and he devotes himself painstakingly to cultivating the roses his late wife grew in the adjoining garden. Writer Lissi Weidinger lives in the other half of the house and is also Kenan’s landlady. She is his complete opposite and often clashes with the “petty bourgeois next door.” A true free spirit, she enjoys the chaos in her home and leads a laid-back lifestyle. For example, she ignores the bank’s reminders, and the bank is now threatening to force the sale of the entire semi-detached house because of overdue installment payments. When the widower happens to find out, he confronts her and puts pressure on her, because Kenan has no intention of moving. The solution to the problem would be for Lissi to finish the new novel she is working on. Unfortunately, the bestselling author has been suffering from writer’s block ever since she split up with her unfaithful ex-husband and publisher, Wolfgang. In the midst of all this, a fire breaks out in Lissi’s home, and Kenan is not entirely blameless. To make sure the writer can deliver the final installment of her romance trilogy on time, he gives her refuge in his home and pragmatically looks for ways to get Lissi writing. He also reveals that he is a fan of Lissi’s books, which have proved an effective remedy for his insomnia since his wife’s death. The two grow closer and closer. Unfortunately, Kenan’s grown-up children, Can and Aysel, get in the way. The siblings are determined to see their father involved exclusively with a Turkish woman and to prevent the arrangement of convenience between Kenan and Lissi from becoming something more. They find an ally in Lissi’s daughter, Sofie.