Der kleine Kommandeur

Summary

Based on Anne Geelhaar′s children′s book of the same title, the film depicts the story of six-year-old Flo, whose actual name is Florian. Together with his father, an officer in the National People′s army, he lives in Burgstadt. Since his mother is staying in Berlin due to her studies, the father is in charge of his upbringing. His love for the military appears to have rubbed off on Flo: He is terribly proud when he gets appointed "commander" in his kindergarten class. The group is supposed to participate in the May Day celebrations. But then his father gets called to Berlin, and out of the sudden Flo is all alone. He wrathfully batters the kindergarten and is very sorry about it afterwards, particularly because his friend Fanni noticed his outburst of fury. Nevertheless, the boy is still filled with the desire to be with his parents. Therefore, he escapes and sets out for the capital on his own initiative. He wants to get to Berlin as a stowaway on a boat sailing the Elbe River. He is detected, however, and – to make matters worse – he learns that the boat is going in the wrong direction. The police safely return the boy to his parents. Once they get there, Flo is quite surprised to find that his friends are also in Berlin.