Aspiring reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the remarkable secret behind a holiday phenomenon: money-filled glass jars anonymously given to people in need.
Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.
Christian is a presenter at a small radio station. His wife Katrin directs traffic in a car park. Both are friends with Uwe, who runs a fast food kiosk, and Ellen, who works in a perfume shop. Their four lives are stuck in a rut. Until the day Chris and Ellen sleep together and upset the balance of the two couples...
Alex Kerner's mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell. When she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happened (as she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack.
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.
Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.
In a beautiful mountain village, a peculiar confectioner, Mr. Panagiotis is forced due to circumstances to hide little Fani from everyone in his house. Quickly, his two grandchildren and a friend of theirs discover the hidden Fani and thus the gang of five is formed. The four children and Mr. Panagiotis live a wonderful adventure between reality and fairy tale. But first they have to fool everyone, the daughter of Mr. Panagiotis, the village doctor and all the residents of the small society. Their obstacles are endless and after going through a thousand and two twists and trials, they will be revealed and they will have to face the consequences of their actions. Will everyone live happily ever after?
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
An average, everyday metalworker and volunteer firefighter content in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart finds his emotions unexpectedly stirred when he falls for a pretty waitress from a nearby town.
Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.
George and The Man In The Yellow Hat are having a merry time counting down to Christmas. But neither can decide what to give each other. Will they find the answers before Christmas morning?
At the turn of the century, Lodz, Poland, was a quick-paced manufacturing center for textiles, replete with cutthroat industrialists and unsafe working conditions. Three young friends, a Pole, a Jew, and a German, pool their money together to build a factory.
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, Yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.
Sissi is now the empress of Austria and attempts to learn etiquette. While she is busy being empress she also has to deal with her difficult new mother-in-law, while the arch-duchess Sophie is trying to tell the emperor how to rule and also Sissi how to be a mother.
After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.
When Carol hosts her annual Christmas party, she quickly finds out that one of her friends is not filled with Holiday cheer.
A group of colleagues begins the traditional “Secret Santa” game. That simple gesture sets off an emotional journey through Montevideo, highlighting different corners of the city while celebrating the value of gathering, friendship, and the small traditions that bring people together. The short film emphasizes that what truly matters isn’t the gift, but the chance to be together again.
Selfish businessman Jason Mudrick is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Mudrick is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
A Chicago sports radio shock jock is changed by a Christmas season encounter with a 15-year-old fan who is dying of cancer who forces him to be nice for a day.