Zeit für Frühling (2016)

Franz Holzner runs a small fish farm in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, which provides for him and his little family. While he is working at the ponds and his wife Sandra is busy inside the house, the Holzners’ daughter, Lilly, plays by herself outside. When no one is watching, she starts the family car while playing, and it begins to move. Her father, Franz, rushes after her, falls, and tears his cruciate ligament, making surgery necessary. Katja Baumann’s daughter Kiki, who has started training at the hospital, assists in an operation for the first time. At the same time, her mother is assigned to look after the family and the fish farm as a village helper. Katja tackles the job with her usual optimism and quickly gets the hang of fish farming. As she sells her first smoked trout, the operation at the hospital does not go as planned. Franz has surgery on both knees and is therefore out of action for longer than expected. After a long day at work, Katja comes home to find Kiki rather upset and in a bad mood. Her daughter dodges Katja’s questions and withdraws. The Holzners run into trouble too when a customer cancels an order because the delivery was late. Katja notices the tension between the couple after Franz comes home and is unable to help with the work from his wheelchair. She also finds the explanation for why both legs had to be operated on unconvincing and advises the Holzners to seek financial compensation from the hospital. First, they should obtain the medical records and consult a lawyer. Sandra Holzner then speaks to the hospital director, who promptly fobs her off, strengthening the suspicion that Franz Holzner was the victim of medical malpractice. Katja gets involved and discovers that Kiki was present during the operation, even though she had denied it to her. Katja confronts her daughter, but Kiki refuses to discuss it and cites her duty of confidentiality. This puts Katja in a conflict of interest, too: if she continues helping the Holzners take action against the hospital, she may be working against her own daughter. Fortunately, the problem resolves itself when the Holzners decide not to sue. Franz’s accident shows him what it is like to finally have time for his family, and he enjoys it. A never-ending legal dispute could spoil this peaceful life, and he does not want that. After Katja finds out that her daughter was partly responsible for the operation on both knees because she was supposed to mark the knee that needed surgery but mixed up left and right, she is very relieved by how things ultimately turn out. Katja finds comfort amid all her problems in her boyfriend Cem. He has come from Berlin unexpectedly and brightens her days a little. Eventually, Kiki opens up to her mother again. She talks to her about her problems and says that she has to take responsibility for her own mistakes. Kiki gives up her training at the hospital because she had only started it to please her mother, not because she was sure she wanted to pursue that career path.