Anja Kling

The summer of 1986 begins on a promising note for Erfurt sisters Catrin and Maja Streesemann – they’ve finally received a travel permit for their first holiday at Lake Balaton. The only thing is, they have no idea that they’re being watched by the Stasi as the spies in swimming trunks of the Balaton Brigade have been watching out for East Germans attempting to escape to the West, with the holiday resort as a starting point. Catrin is quick to make new friends at the campsite, especially winsome Rudi from Mühlhausen, whose overtures clearly aim for more than just friendship; younger Maja is magically attracted to the glamour of the elegant Balaton-Residenz luxury hotel where only Western tourists are allowed to stay. Fate leads them not only into the Balaton-Residenz, but also to Tamás, the Hungarian hotel boss. Catrin immediately falls for the charming Hungarian, but Maja is the one to steal a kiss from him at the first opportunity, casting a shadow on the sisters’ otherwise close relationship. And the next disaster comes along, as their mother Kirsten has every reason to believe that her daughters’ trip to Hungary could wreak havoc on the family after an ominous phone call from Hungary. Using a pretext, she persuades her husband Karl to start the Trabant and drive after Maja and Catrin.

La Piovra is an acclaimed Italian Television drama miniseries about the Mafia. The story was by Sandro Petraglia. The production was designed by Luigi Perelli. The soundtrack was by Riz Ortolani and later by Ennio Morricone, who went on to compose music for several sequels. All 10 series have been released in Australia on DVD by Aztec International Entertainment, with English subtitles, having been originally aired on the Special Broadcasting Service television channel. It was also broadcast on MHz Networks in the United States. The first three series were shown in the UK on Channel 4. The TV drama was wildly successful in the USSR, where it appeared on state TV in 1986 and in Bulgaria, where is also appeared in the end of the 1980s bg:Октопод, offering to the viewers of both countries thrills and dark drama from beyond the Iron Curtain. La Piovra was also shown in 1987–1988 in communist Albania, where it became a huge hit and remains to date a cult film, whose characters and expressions have permeated culture, language and society.

Already having a hard time adjusting at his new school, things take a turn for the bizarre for eleven year old Felix when he accidentally shrinks his strict principal to only fifteen centimetres in height!