Viola von Scarpatetti

Adalbert, a paranoid, overprotective single dad imposes a set of 20 rules on his daughter Sylvie before she leaves the small town of Ormont-Dessus for university. Making sure that she obeys them perfectly, he secretly follows her to Basel, but ends up falling in with a party crowd and breaking all the rules himself.

Elise Lafontaine has a secret routine. Every morning and evening for many years, she has been waving at the express train that passes her house. One fateful day, she finds a letter from the train conductor in her garden and her lonely life is turned upside down. She engages in a promising correspondence through poetic and thoughtful letters where the two anonymous writers share their worlds with each other. But Elise’s fairytale is cut short when the train line permanently detours for a shorter route to Paris. Not willing to do without her daily delight, Elise prompts a daring escape from her comfort zone and sets out to find the train conductor.

When a 9-year-old girl discovers that her mother works as a prostitute at night, she tries to escape their morbidly symbiotic relationship in a bold move.