13 Semester is a 2009 German comedy film. The subtitle (caption) „Der frühe Vogel kann mich mal” (literatally “screw the early bird”) indicates that some students are not happy about the ‘early bird’. 13 semesters is longer than the standard period of study. The film is about two friends, Moritz and Dirk, who move from a small village in the state of Brandenburg to Darmstadt to study mathematical economics at the Technische Universität (TU). The Movie was first shown at the Zurich Film Festival and was also shown at the Hof International Film Festival on 29 September 2009. It started running in German cinemas on 7 January 2010. Plot The friends Moritz and Dirk are accepted at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and leave their small home village in Brandenburg to set out for the big town to study mathematical economics. Having arrived, their lives change in completely different ways. While Dirk becomes a successful student and masters tutorials and term papers with ease, Moritz is distracted from his studies by the university lifestyle and soon falls behind. Following the slogan “Screw the early bird” Moritz prefers to party with his roommate Bernd and gets himself through life with various side jobs. On one of Bernd's parties he meets Kerstin, the woman of his dreams, with whom he ends up in a relationship after some indirections. Due to a lack of motivation he is thrown out of his and Dirk's study group. This fuels him with new ambition and together with his Indian fellow student Aswin, who lives his life in discipline, Moritz picks himself up and passes his intermediate diploma. In gratitude he shows Aswin the more enjoyable side of university life and takes him along to drink beer. This leads to Aswin's life taking a yet unexpected turning as well. After his intermediate diploma Moritz spends a semester abroad in Australia. These scenes are expressed through multiple photo sequences that are commented by Moritz. The story he tells differs considerably according to whom he is talking to. When he arrives back in Germany, he meets Kerstin in a laundromat and soon gets together with her. At first, the relationship is harmonic but soon the mood changes because Moritz is dissatisfied with himself and his life. This leads to Kerstin breaking up with him and Moritz moving out of the apartment he shared with Bernd. At this event the movie