Kate Henshaw-Nuttall, Shah Rukh Khan, Maria Schrader, moderated by Dorothee Wenner

There are few things more pleasurable than seeing a ­wonderful love story on the big screen. Although love may be regarded as an eternal affair and a natural human­ con­­dition, looking at films from the different parts of the world, one can see clear distinctions arising from very ­different cultural contexts that shape relationships from the "first sight" till "death tears them apart". Morale, ethics, ­family constellations, gender relations, economics, traditions and religion – all these issues result in what the Western world likes to describe as the most private sphere of an individual. Three super stars from the genre of "love depiction" – ­Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan, Kate Henshaw-Nuttall of the Nollywood fame and German leading lady and Silver Bear winner Maria Schrader – look at today’s cinema and its ­purpos as a role model for "real" love stories, as well as a ­fulfilment of audiences’ desire for ­escapism and as a ­reflection of the world we live in – be it in India, Nigeria, Germany or ­elsewhere.