ENDE EINER REISE - VON DRAHTBINDERN UND MAUSEFALLENHÄNDLERN

Once upon a time there was a place where cooking pots with holes in them were still mended and where men still kept their wedding vows. The Slovaks Jozef Ploštica, Jan Raček and Vasil Dubay have travelled for many years through Europe as tinkers and mousetrap sellers. Along the way, they have repaired every single holey pot they encountered and never failed to free any infested courtyard from mice with their ingenious mousetraps. Their work and wanderings have taught them to understand life and its people. Their deep rootedness in the life of simple folk has always shown them where and for what they were needed.

They have now reached the "end of their journey" and the men reflect on their itinerant lives, sitting at home in their intimate kitchens where today mended pots are still being used and where their old wives are still in command. What remains is their faith in people and in the fundamental archaic values of friendship and love that have nourished them over the years. Ende einer Reise is a warm-hearted film about the loveable features of simple people and the disappearance of a culture.

Award: Förderpreis der DEFA-Stiftung, Leipzig 2005; nominated for the German Camera Award