Series

Her name is Ronja, and her parents run a lucrative cocaine ring. So far, this could easily be the premise of a modern coming-of-age story with a more criminal slant. But what follows not only sounds like a wild mix of “4 Blocks,” “Banksters,” and “Kleo,” it’s also based on the real-life experiences of a school friend of co-director Pola Beck (“Druck”). Because when the parents of the 18-year-old—played by Golden Globe nominee and Lola Award winner Helena Zengel (“System Crasher”)—go to prison, everything falls apart within hours for the girl who had grown up sheltered until then: control, trust, normality. Suddenly, she must pull out all the stops to get them released. And in the process, the lines between right and wrong, closeness and betrayal, legal and illegal begin to blur. Ronja must delve deep into the family business and thus becomes an active player in a game whose rules she has yet to learn. The result is one of the most ambitious German-language series projects of the year and possesses enormous international appeal, not only because of the names involved—including Helena Zengel and Richard Kropf (“Kleo”), who is responsible for the screenplays. Not just about East End Boys and West End Girls…