First broadcast date: June 18, 2013, 10:45pm, Das Erste

Today every eighth child lives in a patchwork family. Patchwork – a humorous term for an often very sad reality. Fewer and fewer couples manage to get along in relationships. People are divorcing more quickly and looking for and finding new partners. What is life like in a patchwork family? Couldn't things have been worked out, what is the child's perspective, how does life change when parents take new partners?

SWR author Sigrid Faltin spent a year with a patchwork family for this documentary film. When shooting started, Marion (32) and her son Lars had been living with Kai (43) and his four children – Liv (11), Bela (10), Enid (8), and Amon (6) for six months. They met via the internet and soon afterwards decided to move in with each other so that life for Kai as a single father and his children would be easier. Lars, Marion's son, sees his father Dietmar whenever he wants to. For him, his father is the greatest and he likes his new step-siblings just fine. Things would be even better if his dad were living with them. Dietmar and Marion still seem to get along splendidly. Why did they separate – at the expense of their child?

In the midst of our filming the tragic news arrives: Kai has advanced cancer. What does this mean for the patchwork family? What will happen to the new happiness they have been struggling for? How does the family deal with this greatest possible challenge?

"a remarkable film"(Frankfurter Rundschau)

"an impressive film" (Saarland Online)

"touching and admirable" (Osnabrücker Zeitung)

"Through the dignified handling of the director with all protagonists the viewer becomes part of the family" (Jury German TV Award 2013)