Ignatz & Lotte follows the transformation of a small family during the year bracketing the first Gulf War. In the day Ignatz works for a television news affiliate, while at night he volunteers with his friend Kenji at the local alternative cable news program. Omnipresent political and economic pressures leave him little time to spend with his hard-working wife Lotte and their pre-school son Ewan. When Kenji moves from friend to boyfriend, it proves to be the last straw. Lotte realizes her family is disintegrating for a host of reasons from the macro to the micro. The painful sight of his son waving goodbye to him from a taxi window sharpens the painful nature of the times for Ignatz.