Clarissa's Secret (2012)

Gleaming sun, wild animals, the fascinating nature of the South African savannah - 18-year-old Stella grew up with her mother Clarissa in this enchantingly beautiful and harsh world. Together the two women run a safari lodge for tourists from all over the world. Stella never met her father. One day, however, an unexpected visitor from Europe disturbs the idyllic life: the journalist Carlo, an old friend of Clarissa, is researching diamond smuggling and asks Clarissa for help. A little later, Clarissa dies in a tragic car accident. However, Stella's grief is soon mixed with another shock: she has to learn that her mother's identity and thus her own origins were fictitious. In truth, Clarissa came from Austria and was the daughter of the wealthy industrial family Löwenthal. A world collapses for Stella. Why did the mother leave her homeland, break off all contact with her family and even change her name? And why didn't she even confide in her almost grown daughter? Stella wants to know for sure and travels to Europe. In Styria, on the Löwenthals' elegant estate, the next big surprise is already waiting for her: her mother had a twin sister named Charlotte (also played by Katja Riemann). Stella receives them with friendly detachment, but makes an effort to initiate her into the complicated family relationships of the Löwenthal clan, which is not exactly harmonious. For other family members, however, the unexpected addition to the family triggers sheer panic: Konstantin, who takes care of the family business, worries about his inheritance and tries with all his might to keep Stella away from her seriously ill grandfather Albert. Charlotte's husband Jakob, a busy politician, reacts strangely to the visitor from South Africa when he returns from a business trip. When Carlo shows up and causes a real uproar at a Löwenthal benefit gala, things take a turn for the worse. Against all odds, Stella not only gets to the bottom of the illegal machinations in the family corporation, but also the secret of her father's identity.