Immortalised as one of the most scintillating and uplifting Christmas songs, 'Carol of the Bells' adapted from a popular and loved Ukrainian folk melody, came to represent the spirit of brotherhood and unity all over the world. The peaceful and neighbourly existence of three families, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish, sharing a large house, musical evenings and merriment in the city of Stanislaviv in the years preceding and post war, is shattered. First in the Soviet occupation and the persecution of the Polish family, then, by the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and the decimation of the Jewish family. Sacrificing their lives the Ukrainian family manage to save their neighbours' children and their own daughter. Death and loss come to these families, but the healing power and joy , and a promise that the Future Will Not be Cancelled which "Carol of the Bells' evokes will be everlasting.

The comedy plot unfolds around two totally different families: the Drahomanov working in culture and the Nalyvaychenko who are local businessmen. On a spring weekend they decide to go for a traditional open-air barbecue and by virtue of destiny arrive at the same clearing each family considers theirs. A quarrel starts between them, quickly transforming into a grotesque war for a barbecue spot. Unexpectedly, a third claimant for the territory arrives; this is a bribe taker on the run who hid his money in this same clearing and takes the youngest children from both family's hostage, demanding to give back the money that disappeared from the hideout. Tricks, frame ups and oppositions, adventures, unexpected guests and crazy money, different views not only on barbecue marinade recipes but also on the right ways to live. This is a story telling us that no matter how different we are and how much we quarrel, we are always a united, powerful force in the face of a common threat.

Dramatic events unfold in Croatia and Ukraine. The first girl drowned, the second one died from a drug overdose. The main suspect in these deaths, however, soon turns out to be innocent - and dead too. While detective Vladimir and reporter Stribor struggle to solve these murders in Croatia, the niece of Olga, an Ukrainian philanthropist, goes missing in Kyiv.

During the 13th century, a small village fights for freedom in the frontier landscape of the Carpathian Mountains against Mongolian invaders.