Toni Goldwascher

An adventure film for children, set in the Lower Bavarian Inn Valley: TONI GOLDWASCHER tells an atmospheric story, somewhat in the tradition of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer". It takes place a few years after the Second World War in a small village. Behind the façade of an ideal world there are old, unspoken enmities and rivalries. The hero of the story is twelve-year-old Toni, called Toni Goldwascher, who lives with his mother Maria and his dog Strupp in the "Goldwascherhaus" outside the village near the river. Toni's grandfather actually used to wash gold here, which was considered in the village as an attempt to get rich without honest work. That was a long time ago, but the house is still considered an eyesore in the village. Toni is an outsider through no fault of his own. The farmer's son Hans Beil not only harasses him with his "Unterdörfler Gang", he also wants to dispute his gold cove on the river, where Toni tries to pan for gold like his grandfather used to. Two children from the local orphanage, the epileptic Herbert and the mute Elfie, are on Toni's side, but they can't do much either. Toni finds a secret comrade-in-arms in the chaplain, who is temporarily in charge of the village parish and would like him to be an altar boy. The conflict escalates when Toni actually finds gold in the bay! Full of envy, Hans Beil and his gang also go in search of gold ...