GER22 Contra

Synopsis

It is the first day of a new semester for Freshman students at a University in Frankfurt. After one xenophobic remark too many, Professor Richard Pohl (Christoph Maria Herbst, How About Adolf? GFF19, also in It’s Just a Phase, Honey) is in danger of being kicked out of his university after insulting law student Naima Hamid (Nilam Farooq) in front of a packed lecture hall.

When the video goes viral, University President Alexander Lambrecht (Ernst Stötzner) gives his old companion one last chance: if the professor succeeds in preparing freshman Naima for a nationwide debating competition, his chances before the disciplinary committee will be much better.

Pohl and Naima are equally appalled at working together, but Naima wants to prove herself in the competition and over time this unlikely pairing of convenience collects their first successes. Until Naima realises that the multicultural fairy tale apparently only serves one purpose: to save the university's reputation.

A clever comedy from Sönke Wortmann, Contra deals with current social conflicts and discrimination in a playful way.