The series recounts the life of Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942) over six chronological episodes and is the first fictional story about the Swiss journalist and author since the film The Journey to Kafiristan (2001): Annemarie Schwarzenbach comes from a very well-respected and affluent Swiss industrialist family and her mother Renée Schwarzenbach-Wille (1883-1959) is related to the Bismarks. Annemarie fell out with her mother at an early age due to her anti-fascist views. She travels to Berlin where she becomes friends with Klaus (1906-1949) and Erika (1905-1969) Mann and begins to live as a homosexual. She travels the world, works as an archaeologist and writes novels and journalistic articles. She marries the homosexual French diplomat Claude Achille Clarac (1903-1999). From time to time, she takes drugs and suffers from depression. She tries to commit suicide on several occasions. She dies at the age of 34 in Engadine following a cycling accident.
Background of the German-French development fund
The aim of the bilateral fund is to develop fictional TV series originating from German-French co-production. On the German side, the partners are the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg. On the French side, the fund is supported by the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC) and the Region Grand Est. The maximum amount of funding which can be allocated is 50,000 euros per project.