As the technical director of the project involving the reconstruction of destroyed East German secret police files, Annette is truly in her element. Thousands of bags of paper scraps are to be reconstructed under her supervision, and then evaluated by Johannes, her partner both at work and at home, in an effort to uncover the final secrets of the GDR. But in the course of her work, she encounters Michael, a boy she met on a class trip to East Berlin, a boy she is bound to not only by young love, but also by guilt – because a decision by 16-year-old Annette once landed Michael in the clutches of the GDR’s secret police.
