An African immigrant struggles to make a new life for himself in the big city in director-co-writer Burhan Qurbani‘s audacious, neon-lit reinterpretation of Alfred Doblin‘s 1929 novel (and Fassbinder‘s massively influential 1980 miniseries) Berlin Alexanderplatz.
After surviving his perilous journey, Francis (Welket Bungué) vows to be a good man, but he soon realizes how difficult it is to be righteous while undocumented in Germany – without papers, without a nationality and without a work permit.
When he receives an enticing offer for easy money from the psychopathic gangster Reinhold (Albrecht Schuch), Francis initially resists temptation, but eventually he is sucked into Berlin’s underworld and his life spirals out of control.
Though it’s not an overtly queer film, there is a strong homoerotic undercurrent to this wildly modernized new reimagining – especially in the tricky relationship between the two leading men.
Watch the trailer for Berlin Alexanderplatz below and click here to pre-order your copy. The film is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on August 31st.
