Ute Biernat
Hier & Jetzt (original title)
UFA SHOW & FACTUAL GmbH • Documentary & Factual • RTLZWEI • From November 20, 2019Their days are finite, but their zest for life knows no bounds: The documentary HERE & NOW, produced by UFA SHOW & FACTUAL, accompanies people who suffer from the most serious illnesses and still want to feel life every day. After all, who says you can’t dream when you are terminally ill? The new episodes will start on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at 9:15 pm on RTLZWEI.
The protagonists of HERE & NOW are united by their irrepressible will to live – and an incurable illness. The episodes follow people who know that their days are finite and yet do not want to be robbed of their zest for life.
One of them is Leona (21). She suffers from a very rare and highly aggressive cancer: two years ago, she was diagnosed with adrenal carcinoma. As even high-dose chemotherapy could not stop the disease, the doctors give her only a few months to live. Leona wants to fill this time with lots of experiences and has been keeping a “bucket list” ever since. From a parachute jump to a trip to Berlin with the girls – she doesn’t let cancer set any limits on her dreams and wishes.
Norman (35) is battling a rare form of blood cancer. Three years ago, the diagnosis took him out of his everyday life. Although he is currently cancer-free thanks to two stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, he has to live with the fact that the disease could return at any time. Together with his partner Benni, he now makes the most of every day – because Norman wants to take part in life.
HIER & JETZT is an in-house development of UFA SHOW & FACTUAL GmbH for RTLZWEI.
Broadcast: Wednesday, November 20, 2019, 9:15 p.m. on RTLZWEI
Season 1
The two-part documentary provides an insight into the everyday lives of young people who suffer from incurable diseases and only have a few years to live. Despite this diagnosis, they have not given up their zest for life at the doctor’s surgery. They face their fate with power, defiance, energy and humor and want to make the most of their remaining time – for as long as they can.
The protagonists of HIER & JETZT, who celebrate life despite their illness, even though they have a long odyssey of treatments and hospital stays both behind and ahead of them, show us what life wants from us: to be lived! They remind us of the uniqueness and transience of every moment.
Bianca Barth, Executive Producer UFA SHOW & FACTUAL: “HERE & NOW deals with a topic that many of us prefer to look away from for as long as possible. But the protagonists show us: it’s worth looking!”
For the two-part documentary, Patrizia (33), Johannes (33), Susanna (30) and Sina (19) were followed on camera in their everyday lives. Their lives have shady sides, but also plenty of sunny sides. Sadness and joy, crying and laughter, fear and hope make up the field of tension in which the four protagonists move day by day.
The two episodes were broadcast on Tuesday, November 27 and December 4, 2018, both at 10:15 p.m. on RTL2.
