This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the 'Sound', a new disco with most modern equipment. Although she's legally too young, she asks a friend to take her. There she meets Detlef, who's in a clique where everybody's on drugs. Step by step she gets drawn deeper into the scene.

Six teenagers fight for their dream of happiness and freedom, leaving behind all the problems with parents, teachers and others. Christiane, Stella, Babsi, Benno, Axel and Michi throw themselves into the heady nights of Berlin, without limits or rules, and celebrate life, love and temptation - until they have to realize that this rush will not only destroy their friendship, but can drive them into the abyss.

West Germany, 1978. The publication of a harrowing book chronicling the miserable lives of young drug addicts living and dying in train stations and public toilets across the country causes a brutal social shock: the story of Christiane F., a thirteen-year-old girl who prostitutes herself to buy heroin, and the children at the Berlin Zoo station.