Contra

With his uncouth manner, Professor Pohl doesn’t enjoy the best reputation at the university where he works. To make matters worse, he makes a racist remark when student Naima arrives late for his lecture. Unfortunately for him, a video of his verbal outburst spreads like wildfire on the Internet, and the university’s president, Lambrecht, is called to deal with the incident. But Pohl is not dismissed. Instead, he is put to the task of helping Naima prepare for an important debating competition. The lecturer and the student could not be more different, yet they are thrown together to work as a team. After Der Vorname, director Sönke Wortmann once again adapts a French template for the German-speaking public to deliver a greatly entertaining and highly intelligent movie. Nilam Farooq and Christoph Maria Herbst play the leading roles in this amusing comedy about political correctness. (Zurich Film Festival)