 Tobias, aged 13, lives in an East German city and his life is as depressing as the blocks of flats in his quarter. He doesn t know who his father is, his classmates think he is "anti social" and pick on him permanently and his mother Anja lives together with the ignorant and violent Fritze. During a dispute in his class, Tobias claims that his father came back from South America with an iguana. The next day, he shows his amazed classmates and teacher the animal and a photo of his father. The problem: the iguana and the photo belong to his neighbour Max, head writer of a daily hit soap opera. When Max realizes that Tobias searches his friendship, he thinks that the boy s story could be a good plot for his show. Thus, he looks after Tobias, but Anja s suprising death changes everything....