The Cuckoo and the Donkey

Conrad Weitzmann is not a very successful author. He is, however, convinced that the world needs to hear about the love story of his parents. Ten years ago, following the death of his mother, he began writing the screenplay ‘The Orange Grove’. And indeed, the material seemed to inspire the television editor Stuckradt Halmer. But after five years of mail traffic and countless changes, Conrad is forced to accept that he hasn’t progressed a single step - and must now resort to drastic action. He makes a momentous decision: Without further ado, Weitzmann, together with his father Ephraim, kidnaps the television man and holds him captive in their basement until he agrees to help finish the script. But it appears that Conrad’s hostage has never even heard about the screenplay. With a good dose of black humour, The Cuckoo and the Donkey leads us through the overwhelmingly large maze that is German television, in which some talented – or even just obsessed – filmmakers perish. (Zurich Film Festival)