Eine ganz heiße Nummer

In a small, devoutly Catholic village in the middle of the Bavarian forest, where all economic prospects disappeared when the glass factory closed, sales assistants Maria (39), Waltraud (48) and Lena (28) wait in vain for customers to enter their grocery store as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. The parish priest’s spiritual support is little help, and the neighbours who seem so sympathetic prefer to frequent the city’s Aldi store. To add insult to injury, Maria becomes the victim of a series of anonymous obscene telephone calls – which puts the idea into her head that she and her two friends can earn much-needed cash doing telephone sex. Despite initial uneasiness, the three country lasses soon get to grips with this “hot number”. The trio’s profitable but sleazy business does not remain a secret for very long, however, and results in far-reaching consequences for the whole village community. (Zurich Film Festival)