Berlin Film Fest 1984: the best place for every cinema fan. Everyone wants to be in on the festival, but with no accreditation, admission could be very difficult. Journalist Matthies gets to know the rules of being in or out when he wants to see a screening and is not welcome. Thus he watches an old German silent flick in which he's barely interested. The next day the newspapers are full of reports about a newly-discovered German masterpiece from the silent era. It seems that Matthies had just seen *the* film that everybody is talking about now. Also everybody is speculating about its director, who remains unknown. When Matthies talks to old projectionist acquaintance Ackrewa about the film, the latter struggles to recall the director's name. Matthies decides to research the case. An odyssey into film-history begins, and if it is successful Matthies will come up with a top story.