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)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)Cast
Welket Bungué
Guinea
Best movies:
Kaminey: The Scoundrels (2009)
Joaquim (2017)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Martin Wuttke
West Germany
Best movies:
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Maximilian & Marie De Bourgogne (2017) (series)
No Place to Go (2000)
Jella Haase
Germany
Best movies:
Heidi (2015)
25 km/h (2018)
Suck Me Shakespeer (2013)
Albrecht Schuch
East Germany
Best movies:
System Crasher (2019)
54 Hours (2018) (series)
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Nils Verkooijen
Netherlands
Best movies:
Cool Kids Don't Cry (2012)
Michiel de Ruyter (2015)
Regret! (2013)
Lena Schmidtke
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Der Zürich-Krimi (2016) (series)
Joachim Król
West Germany
Best movies:
Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) (TV movie)
Gloomy Sunday (1999)
Run Lola Run (1998)
Annabelle Mandeng
West Germany
Best movies:
Unknown (2011)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Mira Elisa Goeres
Germany
Best movies:
Praxis mit Meerblick (2017) (series)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Buba (2022)
Benny O.-Arthur
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Lukhanyo Bele
South Africa
Best movies:
6 Underground (2019)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Thomas Lawinky
East Germany
Best movies:
The Pianist (2002)
Two Lives (2012)
Die Ermittler: Nur für den Dienstgebrauch (2016) (TV movie)
Thelma Buabeng
Ghana
Best movies:
Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga (2013) (series) - actor, a.f.
Wunderschön (2022)
Cocoon (2020)
Richard Fouofié Djimeli
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Christos Raptis
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Homicide Unit Istanbul (2008) (series)
Michael Davies
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)
Dieter Bernhardt
Best movies:
The Royal Game (2021)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020)