Rialtas na hÉireann (Government of Ireland)

For Connie, things have been going to plan for many years, both professionally and in her private life. That is, until the son of the CEO takes over the business, forcing new demands on the workforce. In future, English is to be the business language. English? Fluently? Not wanting to lose her job, Connie immediately signs up for an intensive English language course in Ireland. But the perfectionist is totally unprepared for her teacher Gillian, the warm-hearted, yet slightly chaotic and young-looking woman, who sees her main job as funeral director as a vocation. Connie also has her problems with her co-student, Max, a Tom Jones imitator, who is currently in Ireland to visit his 16-year-old daughter, Amy. Much to Connie's displeasure, the bon vivant is not interested in rules and regulations. Connie soon realizes that she is missing something more in her perfect life than speaking perfect English. But can she leave her life behind and risk taking the plunge into the great unknown?

Clark Davis struggles to maintain his land and support his family during a long drought. With a bank loan to repay, his wife, Ellen, takes a job in town as a seamstress, but soon becomes ill with scarlet fever. Devastated to lose his beloved wife, Clark and his young daughter Missie turn to his parents Irene and Lloyd for support. Clark must find a way to save his farm and survive Ellen's death without losing the person he loves most: his daughter.

The Sabra and Shatila quarters are part of the Lebanese capital Beirut, which was rocked by a violent explosion in 2020, plunging Lebanon into the worst economic crisis in its history. In the poor districts, once provisionally built for Palestinian refugees, the residents live at a subsistence level without papers, without civil rights, without prospects. The documentary weaves the stories of the three families Kujeyje, Daher, Abeed and that of the young father Aboodi Ziani into a searing portrait of life in a city on the brink. The filmmakers accompanied their protagonists over a four-year period between 2018 and 2022 and show how the poorest of the poor firsthand felt the consequences of the gigantic port explosion, Lebanon's historic economic crisis, the corona pandemic and the ever-growing refugee quota. But unmistakable qualities like resilience and hope allow them to survive.