Directed by:
Burhan QurbaniCinematography:
Yoshi HeimrathComposer:
Dascha DauenhauerCast:
Welket Bungué, Martin Wuttke, Jella Haase, Albrecht Schuch, Nils Verkooijen, Lena Schmidtke, Joachim Król, Annabelle Mandeng, Mira Elisa Goeres (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Francis has survived his escape from West Africa. When he wakes up on a beach in the south of Europe, he is determined to live a regular, decent life from now on. But he winds up in present-day Berlin where a stateless person without a work permit is treated just as mercilessly as the labourer Franz Biberkopf in Döblin’s classic novel of German modernism. Francis initially resists an offer to deal drugs in Hasenheide park, but then comes under the influence of Reinhold, his neurotic, sex-addicted pal who takes him in. When Francis meets club owner Eva and, after several dramatic experiences, the escort girl Mieze, he feels he’s found something for the first time, something he’s never known before: a little bit of happiness – which is precisely what Reinhold begrudges him. Like the literary source material, this contemporary version of Berlin Alexanderplatz is also about society and outsiders, desire and travesty. Not unlike Fassbinder’s version, Qurbani’s epic is a gloomy journey through the “dark night of the soul” – not least on account of its authentic, atmospheric images of Francis’ city of exile: Berlin. (Berlinale)
(more)Awards
- Winner
- Nominations
European Film Awards
- 2020 - Dascha Dauenhauer (Best Composer)
- 2020 - Best Film
- 2020 - Burhan Qurbani, Martin Behnke (Best Screenwriter)
German Film Awards
- 2020 - Fabian Maubach, Jochen Laube, Leif Alexis (Second Best Feature Film)
- 2020 - Albrecht Schuch (Bes Supporting Male Role)
- 2020 - Yoshi Heimrath (Best Cinematography)
- 2020 - Silke Buhr (Best Production Design)
- 2020 - Dascha Dauenhauer (Best Score)
- 2020 - Burhan Qurbani (Best Director)
- 2020 - Burhan Qurbani, Martin Behnke (Best Screenplay)
- 2020 - Welket Bungué (Best Male Lead)
- 2020 - Jella Haase (Best Supporting Female Role)
- 2020 - Frank Kaminski (Best Visual Effects and Animation)
- 2020 - Michel Schöpping, Simone Galavazi (Best Sound Design)
Polish Film Awards
- 2022 - Burhan Qurbani (Best European Film)
Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival)
- 2020 - Burhan Qurbani (Golden Bear for Best Film)