In an Austrian farming village during the '30s, narrator Severin (Lars Rudolph) watches an old woman, Rosalind (Elisabeth Orth) visit the bed of sleeping farmhand Lukas (Simon Schwarz). Rosalind is accused when the owner of the farm is found dead. Local farmers believe his land will be divided among them, since he had no heirs, but his will states that both farm and livestock are left to his peasant workers. When the seven peasants decide not to sell, they join the ranks of the landed gentry. The community's established farmers, led by Danninger (Ulrich Wildgruber), first attack the seven peasants with slander and ridicule and then turn violent. Shot in Super 16 with a blowup to 35mm, this film had its world premiere at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival where it won a Tiger Award.