During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), five International Brigade soldiers of different nationalities are given a crucial assignment as their commander lies dying: they are to smuggle top-secret information across enemy lines. The paper is torn in five; each piece is hidden in an empty bullet shell and entrusted to one of the soldiers. Hounded by fear, the men start an odyssey across the sierra that tests the limits of their friendship and endurance. The plot is based on scriptwriter Walter Gorrish’s own experience in the International Brigades. Ernst Busch, a famous singer and actor (Kuhle Wampe, 1932) who also joined the International Brigades, sings the “Song of the Lincoln Battalion,” which became the anthem for veterans of the Battle of Jarama in 1937, particularly those from the Lincoln Battalion which was founded by American volunteers. Shot mainly in Bulgaria and starring Academy nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine, Jacob the Liar) ans Manfred Krug (Trace of Stones), this film was a young Frank Beyer's stylistic tour de force.