St. Georg is considered a "problem district" in Hamburg. It is not uncommon for 70 percent of the students at schools there to be foreigners, as is the case at the school where the children portrayed in the film are experiencing their first year of school: the filmmakers accompanied five children from different families and with different cultural backgrounds over a period of several years. The clash of different cultures shapes the children's everyday lives, but proves to be less problematic than the typical difficulties all children face: conflicts with their parents and finding their place among their schoolmates. The documentary takes the children's perspective and provides exciting insights into their everyday lives, feelings, and dreams.

For twelve years, the filmmakers documented five children from the St. Georg district of Hamburg. After "Die Kinder von St. Georg - Erste Schuljahre" (2004) covered the period from 1999 to 2004, the former first graders are now portrayed as adolescents in puberty in the period from 2007 to 2011, struggling with their identity, having to cope with setbacks, and discovering new strengths within themselves on the threshold of adulthood.