When Sam, a penniless African-German singer and writer who grew up in East Germany and is now living in Berlin, finds out that he's HIV-positive, he gets extremely drunk, spends a few days in misery, and then promptly falls in love. In a crumbling, once-grand apartment, Sam and his ravishing on-again-off-again lover Rainer, his devoted and cuttingly funny best friend Bastl, and Bastl's wide-eyed photographer boyfriend Mike come together to form a caring but fragile "family." Like the schmaltzy old East German love songs that Sam is recording for his new CD, the film's sweet innocence rises to the top in spite of its characters' misfortunes.

Writer, director and star Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss creates a refreshingly open-ended movie notable for the beautiful, naturalistic acting that reveals the boy at the heart of each of the men.