Die Halligen - Mitten im Winter, mitten im Wasser...

The wind whistles sharply across the frozen mudflats, where the ice floes pile up against each other. Milky white light enchants the landscape into an icy still life. Except for the wind, no sound can be heard. People brave the icy temperatures in the few quaint thatched houses: Winter on the Hallig Langeneß. It is the largest of the ten Hallig islands in the middle of the North Sea. Enclosed by the sea, lonely, but also very romantic. This film visits the inhabitants of the Hallig during the last rough winter days and draws an impressive portrait of people and nature. Johann Petersen, known as Hanni, drives his lorry - a small narrow-gauge railroad - through the middle of the mudflats at what feels like minus 17 degrees. The owner of the only grocery store has brought goods from the mainland to supply the few people on the Hallig. The 110 inhabitants of Hallig Langeneß must always have supplies and all the necessities of life in the house. Floods and heavy storm surges can cut off this small patch of land in the middle of the North Sea from the outside world at any time. Then no ferry can get through here, and even the small trolleys can no longer cross the narrow-gauge track to the mainland. The warm room takes on a whole new meaning these days: sitting by the stove with the family and listening to stories from days gone by - for example, about the devastating storm tides that swallowed up land and animals, and often entire houses. For days now, Hanni and the other residents have been busy preparing for the big Biike festival, which is supposed to drive out winter with a huge fire at the sea. In the past, this fire and lots of kale and bacon were also used to bid farewell to the whalers who went out to sea again after the long winter. With the Biikefest the long, icy season is finally over - hope germinates everywhere, it smells of spring, life returns to the Hallig. How can we live in such isolation, so dependent on the whims of nature? Without the possibilities of a normal everyday life with shopping, doctors, visits to the cinema or other amenities. How does Hanni spend the winter with his family, like the 88-year-old Jens Hansen or the young nurse Patrick Andresen, who actually comes from the mainland?