At the latest since Angela Merkel addressed the nation on March 18, 2020, it has become clear: "It's serious!" Just how serious the situation is is something many people have to experience in the days and weeks that follow. People up close accompanies people for whom everything has changed since then.
 
Martin, who works as a nurse in a palliative care unit in a Cologne hospital, wonders after the first Corona case on his ward how many more there will be and whether the capacities in the clinic are sufficient. Here, he accompanies people on their final journey through life. The fact that the quarantine period for nursing staff is being shortened from fourteen to seven days worries him: "You feel like cannon fodder. Is his strength enough to get through this crisis himself?
 
Chris, who usually supplies film crews on set, has seen almost all his orders disappear due to the filming ban. He now distributes the surplus food he has already bought to homeless people, police officers and firefighters. His motto: "I want to help where I can".
 
The actress Johanna is now also without an income and is worried about her livelihood: "It's just scary".She also wants to do something in the crisis, sews masks, bakes cakes for the retirement home and helps at the "Tafel".
Over the course of several weeks, these and other protagonists, such as midwife Kerstin and physiotherapist Isa, let us participate in their lives. They film themselves to a large extent, talk about feelings, fears and hopes, and show at first hand how their lives change in this exceptional situation.
Menschen hautnah embarks on a journey into the unknown, because none of the protagonists knows where their personal paths will lead. (Text: WDR)
 
Author: Anne Wöhlert
Editing: Claudia Heiss
Producer: Jan Philip Lange
 
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